Unprepared for You
by apassionforships
Summary: Haley was a senior in high school with everything going great. Sure she had a million things going on, but she wouldn't trade it for a second. Until the Troop notice an increase of monsters in their area.This all leads to unforeseen events, esp with Jake.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer**: I do not own the Troop unfortunately. I do own the other original characters though and monsters I guess.

Authors Note: So made slight changes to the Troop, instead the Troop having the ability to fight and see monster until 17 or 18 I think it was, I made it around 25. People still have vivid imaginations till that time right? This is set three years after Jake joined the Troop so you can see why I did that. I needed the characters to be older and a bit more mature, although they will have their moments as you will see. So they are around 18 years old, in their senior year. Hope you guys like it, will update more if you do! No flames pls.

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_Chapter 1_

"Come on! Come on_!" _Haley sighed as she tried to speed up to towards the football field. She already sensed that she was dawning on strike three as far as her relationship with the squad was going. Especially team captain Holly Shaftman. The only thing that kept her from getting booted from the squad was her was her contribution to the choreography in their routines. It helped them build their reputations in the world of cheerleading competitions and even got them state championships two years in a row. Now it was her last year and she and the other seniors had made it their mantra that they were going out on top.

Senior year was proving to be the craziest and exhausting year yet. She could not afford the luxury of senioritis that some of her friends had indulged in. Aside from keeping up with classes, maintaining her GPA, applying for college, attending debate class, other extracurricular that she believed would look good for college and cheerleading she still had to worry about monsters. She, Jake and Felix were part of a secret nationwide institution that hunted and locked up monsters. This year of all years there seemed to be an unexplained resurgence of monsters that were thought to be contained and controlled in their area. She had to quickly leave school to help Jake and Felix in the woods right before coming to practice. It took them longer than usual because there were so many of them.

If someone told her at 13 that she would get down and dirty to hunt monsters she would have laughed and brushed them off saying she hated ever getting her hands dirty…literally. She had to get over that quickly a year later when she joined the Troop. Even now four years later she still laughed, laughed at how crazy it all would sound, but then she remembered all the monsters locked up under their school gym because of them. However after four years she had definitely grown to love the thrill of adventure. It was just an annoyance that it took away from her much needed time on other things.

Principle Stockley who was also the head of their troop made sure that school ran as smoothly as possible for them, making excuses for the teachers who noted their absent from classes and tests, and arranged make-up exams which Haley was wholly grateful for. Although there were times when Jake did not seem to care if he missed a class, and Felix had this uncanny ability to do well on exam after battling a Maniuosple monster the night before. Haley on the other hand had to make sure she arranged extra time to study for a test, finish a project etc. Which was why she appreciated this part of Mr. Stockley's job so much more.

She spotted Demi, her closest friend on the squad as she got to the stadium. They were already practicing a routine with Holly supervising. With Holly's back facing her she was hoping she could sneek in stealthily. If she could not use one of her skills from the Troop missions in her real life, then really why bother. Unfortunately she did not spot Demi shaking her head vigorously, because she was eyeing Holly to see when she could sneak in. She noticed the opportune time when Holly started shouting at one girl to keep up with everyone on one side of the squad. She ran to the opposite end where Demi was and joined for the rest of the routine.

"What are you doing! Why are you so late? She knows you were gone the whole practice!" Demi exclaimed as they just finished hurling someone in the air.

"I know, I know, but I had some other business to attend to, and I got here as fast I could after, I'm so sorry!"

"Don't apologize to me, I'm okay I tried to keep her distracted as long as I could by asking her questions about the routine, giving suggestion in choreography, I mean I even went as far as to suggest Jazz hands! But when we came down to the actual practice, well you can say she noticed" Demi rushed out as the caught another of the girls.

"I'm so sorry and I do have a good excuse for-" Haley continued.

"- Oh and what was that?" It was Holly. "I'm sure it is as good as your last one right? You needed to tend to your dog's stomach, hmm..didn't he eat something that didn't agree with him, what was that again? Oh right the plastic mustache from your Mr. Potato Head" Holly interrupted.

Haley closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Holly had crept up behind her while she had been talking with Demi, and did notice that the whole squad had stopped what they were doing as well. When she opened her eyes and turned around to face Holly all eyes were on her. If it was one thing Mr. Stockley did not do, it was give excuses for extracurriculars. He appreciated what the squad had achieved for the school, however did not believe that it was necessary to provide excuses for non-academic endeavors. She was on her own on these things.

Haley gathered her thoughts as she prepared for another confrontation with Holly. She was amazed at herself that with all the things she had seen being she in the Troop that her imagination was limited to that of a seven year old when standing in front of the ever intimidating Holly Shaftman. _Mr. Potato Head, really???_ She thought to herself.

"Well I had a dentist appointment" She rushed out. Simple and believable.

"Just when state championships are right around the corner, you decide to schedule your self a dentist appointment?" Holly asked glaring down at her.

"Well I wouldn't say it was right around the corner we have three months and-"

"-Which I believe we need every bit of to remain on the top! I am really in no mood to hear any of your whimsical excuses today, because your actions clearly speak for themselves, tardiness, and absences since the beginning of the school year show the lack of commitment as well as respect for the squad us, your friends since freshman year!" Holly screeched with each sentence getting higher.

"I know you are good Haley, You are one of our best! But if you do not care enough about our work and the time and effort we put in, then there is no reason for you to be here! Talent is not enough to be a member here, time and effort equates that, there are hundreds of talented girls that would kill to be where you are!" Holly exclaimed. Haley started feeling guiltier by the second.

"Come talk to me when we become you undivided attention, but I'm sorry Haley, as of right now, you are off the squad!"

"No! Wait!! It won't happen again. I won't miss any more practices! I'll help you with whatever you need. You don't understand I love being on this squad. We have all made it this far together! I've just been really busy, but I'll manage my time better! I do respect you all! We have been through so much" Haley could feel her knees getting weak by the second. She looked around at everyone. She could see the look of sadness and sympathy in their eyes. They knew they could not do anything. What Holly said goes, because she was usually always right when it came to the team. Haley knew that if anyone else was in her shoes she would regrettably side with Holly. They all had to be in it together or it would all be for naught.

"I'm sorry, please come see me though, when you get all this straightened out" and with one last look she turned to the team and told them to start over with the routine.

Demi who looked shocked mouthed a "I'm so sorry" and made a hand gesture saying she would call her later and went back to the group.

Haley nodded and turned around. She could not believe what had just happened. It was just a dream she tried to convince herself. However after watching her team that she was part of for more than three years practicing without her, the image finally set in. Stunned and devastated, her legs kicked into autopilot after collecting her bag and left the stadium. She suddenly realized _strike three_.

A/N: Hope you liked it. Looking forward to getting to the other characters.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own the Troop unfortunately, but the other characters and monsters I do.

Authors Note: So I want to try and keep the momentum going while I still have the muse. Even if it is hard to find the time especially with the holidays coming up I'll try. Enjoy!

Chapter 2

"So what do you think? _Seriously?_ I need your honest opinion."

"I absolutely love it! I think he will definitely notice you at that party tonight!" the other girl replied.

"You don't think it's too much do you, what with the neon pink and the sparkles?" the other girl asked.

" What? If anything it's too little," she paused..."-which is why it is exactly right for you, Brian definitely likes a girl who is not afraid to show her assets," she continued. "Watch by Monday you guys will be _the _couple of the school."

Silence. Hayley thought, as she was finishing up her drink by the water fountain. No doubt there, they were right at that moment, raising their eyebrows at each other, turning their expressions into smiles. And then there would come the…

"Ahhhh!!!"

Yep there it was. The screeching, the screaming, the jumping and the giggling. Her friends in the squad were so predictable that she had to let out a small chuckle. She would miss that. She turned down the next corner of the school hallway and headed to her locker before first period. Hopefully they didn't see her, but if she knew them, then they were too absorbed by their recent conversation anyway.

Hayley sighed. It was probably better that way right now anyway. It still hadn't sunk in for her yet. It was better to put some distance between her and squad right now so she could sort out her priorities. But she did miss having those simple, carefree conversations she had with the squad. As shallow as they seemed on the outside, it kept her grounded and made her feel normal. She wanted to feel like she was a regular girl with ordinary girl issues, who was supposed to worry about clothes and her social life and not just about monster activity in her spare time. As studious and serious as she was about the Troop, she wanted to portray a normal life and be like everyone else was in school too.

What she needed to do now was try and fill the gap of cheerleading. She could put more time in the Troop... but no, Hayley realized she needed to put some time in something that would look good in her college applications. Another disadvantage from being in the Troop, was that despite all the work you put in, no one could ever appreciate it. If even just one person thanked them after fighting and exhausting themselves in saving the life of that said person, it would make her job a thousand times more enjoyable. If doctors and nurses can be given Christmas cookies for all that they do, than how is one "thank you" bad? Hayley really did not understand the logic in it., or anything else concerned in her life right now.

Hayley got to her locker and started to unload some of her books.

" _So!_ I am thinking we head down to the creek down by Riveridge after school," Felix expressed out of nowhere. Hayley jumped.

"Don't do that! Geez! You know normal people acknowledge some sort of greeting before starting a conversation. Off the top of my head right now some sort of 'Hi' or 'Good morning Hayley' would have been fine you know," Hayley finished. She really was startled.

"Oh girl please, you know stealth is _my_ thing, you should honestly be used to it right now. First _you _think it's charming, then the rest of the girls follow suit, and then the world…" Felix said dreamily. Hayley could see that she was losing him, she could see the faraway look he usually got when he started talking about his ambitious dreams. She needed to snap him out of it.

"Wait so what were you saying about Riveridge Creek?" Hayeley questioned.

"Hmm…what? Oh right so we need to go down to the creek. I spotted an unusual amount of mutant residue around that area in our radar machines back in the Troop headquarters."

"What I don't understand is why and how it got there, the radar is not even picking up any abnormal activities in that area." Felix continued.

Hayley was as puzzled as Felix seemed to be. She tried to recall anything from the Troop handbook that could relate. "Well maybe the mons-" she started.

"- the _MON_day of next week, yep that sounds like the best time to meet up." Felix looked wide-eyed right at Hayley and then right behind her.

"Whhyy? What's going on on Monday and how come I wasn't invited? Huh?" Demi said as she approached Hayley.

Hayley turned to see Demi. She noticed that she was smiling. She must have just caught the tail end of the conversation and was just curious and humoring them.

"What oh, just umm, yeah we were just…" for some reason Hayley was drawing a blank. She noted it was probably from the lack of sleep that she had the night before. She just couldn't get her mind off of what had happened. She looked at Felix, and he quickly took the hint.

"…Setting up a study session for an exam on Tuesday" Felix quickly covered.

"Really for what class?" Demi asked.

"Spanish"

"Statistics"

Hayley and Felix both said in complete unison. Demi raised her eyebrows at both of them. "Well the Spanish one is later on in the week, but we might as well kill 2 birds with one stone," Felix said animatedly. Too animatedly if you asked Hayley, he even used his hand gestures to try and convince her. Not something you would want to see with that metaphor. Hayley had to stop herself from rolling her eyes and laughing.

"ookay" Demi continued turning to Hayley, "Well anyway I just wanted to see how you were doing, you weren't answering your cell phone. You had Chris and me worried.

Chris. She forgot that he called her yesterday. She had meant to call him back to tell him that she was fine, or give the appearance anyway. Chris was Hayley's "its' complicated status on her myspace page right now. It was the best way to describe them. Hayley liked to tell people that they were just dating for now, with no official status right now. Besides Hayley thought _Why does a relationship have to have a status? If the two people involved know where each one stands with the other what did it have to do with anybody else?_ Chris was nice and sweet, and wasn't bad to look at either. He was on the wrestling team. They have been _dating_ for two years. With Hayley in her senior year she just did not want to get too involved especially if it didn't go anywhere. Chris didn't seem to mind that Hayley did not want to make things official. He said he could wait. He was sweet like that, too sweet sometimes.

"I'm sorry, I'm okay though, really. I'm meeting Chris afterschool. I'll talk to him then." Hayley forced a smile.

Felix quirked his eyebrows. "Why what happened?"

Demi turned to look at him then to Hayley as if she was asking permission. Demi and Felix we not really close friends, more like acquaintances, the friend of a friend who just happened to be Hayley. It's not that they were enemies or anything but in school they were in different social circles and they just didn't have any reason to interact as the school saw it…as they saw it.

Hayley nodded reluctantly. It's not as if he wouldn't find out eventually. Word spreads like wildfire in her school.

"She is not on the squad anymore, Holly kicked her out," Demi said somberly.

"What!!! Why??? What's going on Hayley?" Felix questioned.

Hayley did not know how to answer truthfully with Demi there.

Demi answered for her. "Well Holly said that she just wasn't putting enough time in cheerleading. That her priorities were not in the right place." She went on, "I guess school and her activities were getting to be too much and that she should get a handle on those thing better before considering joining the squad again,".

"Are you having trouble at school Hayley? Is that why you are asking for tutoring?" Demi asked turning to Hayley.

Now that wasn't fair. She knew Demi had the best intentions, she was one of her best friends but it stung a little bit to hear her say that. She was doing her best to keep up in everything in her life as best as she could, and she could not even defend herself with that argument because she would have to explain the Troop and how much of a factor it was in her life.

Hayley sighed, "Yeah a little, but don't worry I'm working it out and Felix is going to help me with my classes," Hayley put on a smile trying to lightening the mood.

"Yeah don't worry I'll definitely do anything I can so we can win state champions again!" Felix said enthusiastically. Hayley knew he figured it out and was trying to cover for her too.

"I mean so _You_ guys can win state champs again," Felix backtracked after Hayley and Demi gave him a funny stare.

The first period bell rang before anyone else could say anything.

"Well I guess I will just talk to you later Hayley, bye Felix," And Demi walked off to her first class.

"Oh okay, bye Demi it was nice talking to you too!" Felix answered back just as Demi was already at the other end of the hallway and was turning the corner. Hayley doubted that she heard him she just shook her head.

And while he was busy with that she saw her chance to slip away quietly. Closing her locker she walked quickly to her next class before Felix turned around to address the news that was just shared with him. She knew he would, he was her best guy friend and if she knew him he would want to talk, but she would just take that bullet at a later time if she could help it. She had a class to get to anyway.

AN: So I had so many things I wanted to get into this chapter but I felt it would take too long, and with the holidays coming up I would not have to time to write it all in. So I split it. Hopefully I can get another one in after the holidays. Thanks so much to the people who took the time to let me know how they like this fic. I realized being the writer instead of the reader there is no joy in a story like the reader cos you already know were the story is headed. So I guess the joy comes in the reviews. So I really appreciated them. Thank you. Happy Holidays everyone! And response to **Heart on my Hand**: Yea I wish there was too. Hopefully there will be more Troop fics soon! Its still kind of new I guess but fingers crossed. ;)


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own the Troop unfortunately. I do own the other characters and made up monsters.

A/N: Hope everyone had a good holiday! Thanks again for the nice reviews. They really do keep me motivated. We really do need more episodes or fanfics at least to keep us going don't you think? Lol. So I know there doesn't seem to be a plot right now but I can assure you guys there is. It just takes a while to get there. This is not a one-shot, so it takes time to get the ball rolling. Hopefully you guys will join me for the ride. Hope you like it!

Chapter 3

_Oh Thank God! So somebody does like me up there._ Felix thought after spotting the person he had been looking for the entire lunch period. He first tried to look for her in the cafeteria at her usual table with Demi and her other cheerleader friends but was unable to find her. Then he tried to spot her at her boyfriend's table; with the jocks but found her to be missing as well. It really couldn't be that hard to find somebody of her caliber, she was after all the head of the cheerleading squad. People would naturally flock to her. There would always be a herd of people surrounding her. She was the magnet that everyone was drawn to. Unfortunately for Felix he was on the opposite pole. He didn't really mind, to him he didn't see a need to talk to her and was sure the feeling was mutual. Except of course under this circumstance.

He found her outside on the football field practicing some random moves in which he could only assume were part of some routine. Surprisingly she was alone. He was somewhat relieved; it would make it easier on his part at least. Holly resembled the ultimate cliché of a cheerleader to Felix. She was attractive, flexible and poised at the same time. She had long straight cascading chestnut brown hair and legs that went on and on. It didn't hurt that she had a body that would have all the guys on the edge of their seats when watching her in the different positions, angles and jumps, including him of course. He was a guy after all.

He pushed all those thoughts aside as he slowly approached her. He had to make her understand Hayley's circumstance without giving anything away. Hayley was his best friend, well technically "second in command" after Jake of course but that still made him want to do everything he could for her. He didn't have a chance to talk to Hayley after that morning, and likely wouldn't till their meeting at HQ, but he wanted to talk to Holly first. Maybe if he talked to her and tried to make her understand then she would give Hayley another chance. He knew how important the squad was to Hayley. Whenever there was a game Hayley would always remind him and Jake to come. Forget the home team and whoever was playing she always asked them to come watch the squad. She would ask for feedback and their opinions on their performances. Felix didn't think there was much value in his opinions but he didn't mind giving them and watching the nice view that the performances of the girls offered. And if you missed one of their competitions, then forget it, you are as good as dead to Hayley… well at least for two weeks. Jake learned that the hard way when he forgot about one, a year ago. It took around three dozen apologies, candies, a week of rides to school, a marathon of "Bring it On" movies, another dozen of trivial mundane labor, and finally his sister's coveted Ickie doll to get their friendship back on track. For Felix it was not pretty to be in the middle of it. If you needed another witness there was also Mr. Stockley. He shuddered at the thought of those two weeks, he found his life to be in danger countless times in their missions all because Hayley refused to work with Jake. He could not stress enough how glad that those two weeks were over and done with.

"Can I help you with something?" Holly asked as soon as she spotted him.

She was standing right in front of him now. He snapped out of his reverie and addressed her. He had to convince her no matter what. "Yes actually, I wanted to talk to you about my friend Hayley. You see I recently heard that she is not on the squad anymore, now how much of that statement holds true?"

"Umm… all of it, as of yesterday she is not with us anymore." Holly answered back.

"I see, I see, hmm…and what sort of reasons can you provide to justify why she cannot be on the squad anymore?" Felix questioned. His plan was to portray somewhat of the suave guy in those cop or law procedural shows that would question the criminals until they were left pressured, confused, and was left with the only option of confessing or giving in to whatever the police or lawyers wanted.

"Well, just off the top of my head now lets see, she was late, she missed eight practices in two weeks, when she is here she doesn't focus, her contributions to dance routines are minimal, and the list goes on and on, tell me if those are not grounds for dismissal? What would you do in my position? Tell me? Seriously tell me? Because if you have a better way in which everybody wins I would pay you everything I ever cared about!" Holly finished. She looked scared and petrified for a moment and then suddenly it was gone. She paused, "I'm sorry I don't have time to deal with this, I have a championship I need to win,". Holly started gathering her stuff. She was heading back to the school.

"Wait, please hear me out," As soon as Felix saw how vulnerable she looked in that split second "Plan A" was kicked to the curb.

"I don't even know you" Holly turned around.

"I know but I'm Hayley's friend and this means a lot to her. With all the other stuff she has got going on trust me when I say that this is what she is the most passionate about. When she talks about it to me, you can see she just lights up. I know she has stuff going on but if you give her a chance she will not let you down," Felix looked right at her.

"The problem is I have given her way too many chances, and what about me? Does anyone think that it means a lot to me too? This is the only thing I have going on so I have got to be the best at it. She has stuff going on but I do too. You are _her _friend so you only know her side. You only see me as the dark, type A antagonist who just wants to torture your friend because I can right? But I needed to do it, and I have my reasons that I don't think involve you. Just know I wouldn't have done it if I didn't need to." Holly said shakily.

_Well congratulations Felix, you broke her down, but not exactly the turn out you wanted. _Felix felt so insensitive after that. He was speechless. He did not know what to say to make her feel better.

"I, I'm sorry, I should've thought about your side," Felix stammered.

Holly forced a smile. "No no, you are a good friend you should have thought about your friend, you were right on that front but I'm sorry I couldn't offer the outcome that you wanted,"

Both of them looked away, feeling a little embarrassed about their previous exchange.

Felix started, "Look I know we hardly know each other,-"

"Felix Garcia, president of the AV club." Holly interrupted.

Felix just stared.

"We actually have been in quite a few classes together since 3rd grade. I should confess I kind of sat next to you in a pre-calc class last year because I needed answers on a midterm. I forgot to study for it because of a party celebrating the football team's win over East High, you have no idea the weight lifted off my shoulders now that I'm confessing to you, I felt so guilty,"

Felix just laughed. He didn't ever in his wildest dreams think Holly Shaftman knew his name let alone think to copy of his test. "No worries, listen if you need to talk, or even need help with math, I'm here, Felix is available 24/7…sadly"

Holly chuckled, "Okay I may take you up on those offers, listen if you are free tonight you should come to Brian Patterson's party."

Felix made a face. Brian and Felix didn't have the best relationship. He was the stuffing to his turkey in his freshman days. The bullying did stop come junior year for some reason, he figured Jake had a talk with him, but still… they didn't leave them exactly as best friends. And wasn't he also…

"Wait aren't you going out with Brian?"

"Yea, you should come, it will be fun, I need to take my mind off of all this stress for a while too,"

"Haha, uh okay maybe I will drop by," Felix forced out.

"Okay well see you then!" Holly finished and headed back to the school, just as the bell rang for the next set of classes.

_Wait…What just happened?_ Felix wondered.

Hayley found herself talking to the Goolaup monster down at HQ while waiting for everyone else for the meeting. She didn't feel like socializing with anyone else at school at the moment so she went down right after the bell. The Goolaup monster was easy to talk to and didn't really talk back which was fine with her, she just felt like she needed to vent. It was one of the monsters that helped rather than caused chaos in society. For their specific HQ it helped by emitting odor whenever there was any trouble of the paranormal kind in HQ. Right now all it was doing was snoozing quietly while Hayley talked about the pros and cons of getting kicked out of the squad.

She stopped when she heard someone enter, she turned around

"Yea, so just meet me outside, no _by_ it not _in_ it or we will never be able to find each other," It was Jake talking on his cell phone. Hayley suspected he was talking to Stella, yup, his girlfriend for eight months now. As far as she was concerned she was cool, pretty and sweet on the outside but had an inner geek and rebel that didn't care what anyone thought on the inside. When she first met her she reminded her vaguely of Taylor Swift, inside and out minus the music. But when those two got together there was no interrupting them in their obsessions in all things comics, fantasy, sci-fi, and art. It's a geekdom of a love story she couldn't help but muse.

"I think it starts at seven so we should probably be there at six, its probably gonna get packed and we want to make sure we have good seats," Jake continued. "I know, who wouldn't be excited?" His face lighting up. "Okay so I'll call you before I pick you up…okay I'll talk to you later Stel," and with that he hung up the phone.

Jake met Hayley's stare. She started, "Sooo big day, where are you guys going this Friday night, sounds like a concert."

"Nah even better! The writer of the best seller and popular comic book, _Zander and the Three Kingdoms_ is giving a guest lecture at the state university." "I never even imagined he knew our little town let alone want to come here. This is huge, can you imagine him coming here!" Jake pointed to the ground.

"Well I can hardly imagine him coming right here exactly cause then we would have to snark him," Hayley said with a smug smile.

"Whatever, even your sarcasm cannot ruin this for me today, getting his autograph and learning how he got where he is today, maybe he might even have opportunities were I can help him at his work, see how it's all done, the possibilities are limitless!" Jake didn't even notice how he was shaking Hayley with his hands around her arms with each phrase. Sometimes his enthusiasm could be a little much Hayley noted.

"Okay slow down there Jake first we have got to finish this little investigation at the creek and then you can have your wild unadulterated fun" She said taking his hands off her. With all those missions he really didn't know his own strength any more. It was hard not to notice how much toned and bulkier he got since the previous years, Felix too in fact.

"Details details, all we have to do is see if there is any monster or anything abnormal residing there and collect some of the residue that we picked up on our radar." He continued, "We will be in and out, and if we are lucky we will have figured out whatever is causing the increase of numbers,"

"So thats your plan? See what's out there and go from there?" Hayley questioned.

"It's worked before, right now we have no other outside knowledge, our database and your bible of a handbook on these things have gotten us nowhere for a month now, so yea this for now is the best we have got, if you have any other suggestions lay them out there Hayley," he finished staring her down.

"I'm not saying we shouldn't go, but we should have a plan on what to look for, not just to show up for the sake of showing up and hope something out there reveals what is causing the increase in numbers," Hayley shot back.

"Uhh…" He put his hands on his temples and started rubbing them. "I feel like I'm talking in circles with you, that's all fine and dandy but this mission is different from the others because we don't know what to look for, there is no specific monster that we know of that is doing this, that is why we are just going to collect the residue and investigate around for a bit," Jake explained frustratingly.

"Whoa, I didn't know the meeting started already," Felix piped in. "Although from what I have heard from the meeting that failed to wait for me and Mr. Stockley, I agree with Jake, even our machines are not giving us much help. Going there and seeing things for themselves is the only plan that makes sense," "Oh and Mr. Stockley will be late he has a meeting with the school board not sure how long it will go for though," Felix ended lamely.

"Fine," Hayley said with clenched teeth. "But we should be prepared for anything that pops up."

"Way ahead of you there, I just finished working on these," Felix went over to back room and pulled out three compact fighting guns. They looked ordinary to Hayley.

"Meet the G900 it has the ability to anticipate a monster coming within a mile away sensing their body temperature, it is also equipped for any of the monsters that we have encountered. I have been working on this baby for two years." Felix finished patting the guns lightly. Now they are on there first run so be careful with them.

"So are they approved by the International Troop Institution and Mr. Stockley?" Jake asked curiously eyeing his gun from different angles.

"Ah No, there are still a few bugs to work out so I want to wait before I present it to them to evaluate, but for the most part they are in good working condition, and should perform to your expectations, I built it specifically for these kind of missions, the timing is just a little off" Felix said trying to convince them.

"Fine it looks good to me, let's go." Jake said determinedly.

"Wait, now hold up first this isn't a car that you trying to sell Felix do they work or not, and second we have to wait for Mr. Stockley before we do anything hasty." Hayley said between the three of them.

"Yes it works, trust me Hayley," Felix looked at her. Hayley knew he was the best at what he did but could not help but hesitate.

"We don't have to wait for Mr. Stockley, he knows the gist of what the meeting was for all we have to do now is to put words into action, look I don't know what you guys have going on tonight but I have plans and I know for sure that I am not wasting my time just standing here," Jake said seriously.

"All right man, I'm with you. Let's finish this thing" Felix geared up. Hayley thought Felix said that a little too quickly.

Hayley knew it was two against one and there was really no point in arguing now.

"Fine, let's get this over with," reluctantly said. She really hated when Jake took things into his own hands. He sorted of reminded her of someone.

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A/N: Hoped you liked it, pls let me know how you liked it, the more reviews the faster I update! They really do motivate me. ;)


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I do not own The Troop unfortunately. Although other made-up characters and monsters I do.

A/N: Another day, another chapter, I was inspired and had the time. Thanks for the opinions and reviews. I take them all into consideration, it's my first time writing fanfic so some feedback and critiques (not flames) are always appreciated. Enjoy!

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Chapter 4

They arrived at Riveridge creek an hour later. It was a public park that had people going about their business relaxing, so they had to stay as inconspicuous as they could. They put their weapons and other essentials in camping bags and ventured into the woods as if they were merely going out to explore Mother Nature's wondrous works.

Felix was leading with his GPS-like device the Spectrometer that showed where the paranormal residue was located. They were getting pretty far into the woods where there were no other people around. Hayley noticed they were walking almost parallel to a stream.

"So are we getting any closer to that residue that you've been talking about?" Hayley asked. It was starting to get dark, and with the season transitioning into winter she could definitely feel the chill in the air. This is usually the time where monsters started coming out for the day.

Monsters liked their world to be kept a secret. They liked to cause chaos in society but if they happened to fail trying, they wanted to be sure that there was always another on the way. They liked to keep things in the dark, or camouflaged so no one could go after them. Say a monster such as a _Pyrocter's _caused a fire in an office building it would just go on and find another building it could set fire to, it wouldn't care about taking credit or showing the whole world _their_ work, they were "humble" if that was the right word for it. They didn't need people to know about them. So in reality, people would think people caused the monster's work. Another benefit for them is that people would start to turn on other people creating more chaos and the whole cycle resets its selves. It's a win- win for the monsters.

Hayley thought it was much easier that they stay hidden anyway, despite the trouble that they had trying to look for them, it was better than people living in terror or snarking them every minute of every day.

"Yeah should only be a half a mile away from us now,"

"Good, keep your eyes peeled for anything out of the ordinary." Jake stated. Hayley glanced at him. He looked so serious and focused. When he was out on one of their mission it's as if nothing else mattered but that moment and what needed to be done. This was definitely a good trait because it was a matter of life and death in some of these situations, but for Hayley he seemed to be too serious, self-assured and headstrong. Hayley had been there a little bit longer than Jake but when he joined he seemed to take charge right away. It was a balance of give and take with him. She had to remind him sometimes that she could take the lead and was right about strategies and facts as well. She memorized their handbook the first week it was handed to her after all. What did Jake do? Well in his words, follow _his gut and instincts._ She had to sigh though because for some inexplicable reason their team managed to get in the top 5 in the International Troop rankings. She was grateful, but did not know how they ever got up there.

"Yeah but your weapons should signal if any monsters are gonna pop up anywhere, remember they are just prototypes so be careful with them," Felix said proudly.

A few minutes went by. Hayley needed to get her mind out of the suspense of this particular misadventure.

"So why are you in such a hurry to get out of here Felix? Do you have plans tonight?" Hayley teased.

"Plans? What plans? Who said anything about plans?" Felix was looking everywhere and anywhere Hayley noticed, but then again he could be looking out for some monster activity.

"Oh I didn't say anything about it, but Jake might have said something about it," She tried to catch Jake's eye trying to coax him to play along. He was still searching for anything unusual anywhere they passed. She finally caught his eye, and made a face and asked him to play along for a bit.

With Felix leading ahead of them, Jake gave Hayley a glare, shook his head and mouthed a "_not now!_"

Hayley ignored him and pressed on, "Yes Jake said a certain cheerleader that was not me was looking for you and wanted to ask you something, right Jake?" She knew for a fact that Demi asked Hayley before their last class that day that she wanted to talk to Felix and ask him something. Grant it, she didn't know what that was about but never the less she was intrigued. She wouldn't be the type to lead him on if there wasn't a chance of course. She had a good feeling about them. She knew Jake wasn't one to hurt his friends feelings too and used that to her advantage.

"Yea she was looking for you after…5th …dot. Wait what? I mean period! She wanted to ask you sometea something! I mean…" Jake finished off. Hayley just finished completing that sentence in a short stint of charades and whispers to Jake. He could be so dense sometimes. Jake looked thoroughly annoyed and mouthed something along the lines of _You better be telling the truth_ to Hayley.

She smiled her most charming smile and mouthed back a _Don't I always. _She couldn't help but wink.

Jake rolled his eyes, smiled and shook his head. Hayley wondered what he was thinking about just then.

"Really Jake? She did ask?" Felix stopped walking and turned around.

Jake and Hayley stopped walking abruptly to avoid crashing into him.

"Yeah, man she did but maybe we can walk and talk about it," He moved past him and realized his didn't know where to go. He turned back to Felix who was still standing still.

He repeated his earlier question, "Really Jake? She did ask?" Hayley answered before Jake could get a word edgewise.

"Yes! I happened to witness it from across the hall, heard the whole thing," She rushed out.

"I wonder if she wanted the notes for Calculus. You know, Holly is in my Calculus class second period, " Felix continued smugly.

Hayley was already nodding excitedly, "Yep, Yep Demi was apparently looking for you everywhere," It didn't hurt to exaggerate a little…

She just noticed that there was something slightly _off_ about his last sentence. "Excuse me did I hear you say Holly? Why would Holly be looking for you?"

"Hold up, did you say Demi-" Felix started, his confusion apparent.

Jake interrupted them; he was looking upwards with a defeated sort of look. "Walk and talk people, please walk and talk…" Trying to lead the way but finding no one was following behind him. He let out a frustrated sigh and started to walk back to his friends.

"-Of course I'm sure I said Holly, why would you say Demi-" Felix asked, intrigued.

"Why would you say Holly, you've never even talked-"

All of a sudden they felt the ground shake slightly. They all looked at each other and suddenly formed a small circle facing their backs to each other. They got their gun blasters loaded and ready. Hayley just noticed that it was almost dark. Their eyes were used to it now but it was still a hindrance when trying to spot any monsters anywhere. Hayley spotted something slither on the ground.

"Right there!"

"Over there!"

Jake and Hayley said pointing at different directions.

"What where?"

"Where?"

Hayley spotted the one Jake was talking about. So there was at least two.

"It's the Basilisks, don't worry all you have to do is point your guns at them and shoot, the guns should detect what they are and figure out what laser to use, you won't even need a reflection" Felix said trying fiddling his gun trying to get it cooperate. For some reason it wouldn't turn on.

"Remember not to look at them in the eyes or you turn into stone," Hayley reminded them.

Jake shot one of them that started to move towards them. It gave a ear-piercing shriek and then it lay still and motionless.

"Wow these things are impressive, Felix," Jake started aiming for the other Basilisk when all of a sudden the Basilisk that was laying on the ground jumped up onto Hayley's back and started clawing at her. She struggled trying to get it off. It was much bigger and heavier that the ones in HQ if she remembered it correctly.

"Felix you get the one on that side I'll get the one on Hayley."

"Hayley grab onto the branch of that tree and I'll pull it off." Hayley grabbed onto a branch of what looked to be a sturdy tree while Jake tried to pull it off. Basilisks were very poisonous, it was pertinent that they get it off as soon as possible before it stuck its fangs anywhere. They sort of resembled a giant, rooster with deformed features.

"Remember to keep away from his fangs Jake, for some reason it's stronger than before," Hayley managed to get out. She could feel the coat that she was wearing slowly thinning as the Basilisk tried to latch onto her. There was a loud shot and the Basilisk was once again motionless. She could still feel it clinging onto her though. Jake started pulling it off, with a strong force of exertion and finally pulled it off, but in the process lost his balance and stepped backwards dropping the stunned Basilisk on the ground. He continued backwards and fell in the stream. He was soaked from head to toe when Hayley came up to help him. That included the gun Felix warned him to be careful with, as well as his camping bag.

"Hayley, Jake watch out!" Felix warned. It was the Basilisk; that was most recently stunned. Hayley was getting ready to shoot it again.

"No! Wait! Come here little Basilisky here pooty cutie!" Jake said in a screeching baby voice, he also started crowing like a rooster. It was the one sound that could defeat them, they hated it. Hayley moved out of the way as the Basilisk started running to Jake who was now out on the edge of the stream. "Yep you know you want this," Jake continued. He stood at his full height. The good thing about the dark was that you couldn't exactly see the monster's eyes just a dark looming shape. Just when the Basilisk was about to pounce on Jake, he moved out of the way. The Basilisk in mid-air was treated with the sight of its own reflection in the stream. It turned into stone and floated away as it landed in the moonlit reflected stream.

"Well that was close," Felix joined them by the stream. Blaster still in hand.

"Yeah, close, what happened to the other Basilisk, did the G900 work for you?" Jake inquired.

"No for some reason the specific laser designed to tackle it didn't work, which is strange since I just tested it on the Basilisk in HQ," Felix pondered.

"So where is it?" Hayley asked looking around.

"The only thing that worked for it was the stunning ray, which reminds me we better start moving before it wakes up," Felix started moving getting his GPS device out again.

Once they were a good distance away Felix spoke up again. "It should only be a few minutes away,"

"So quick question, why didn't your gun blaster pick up the monster and warn us?" Hayley inquired.

"Well my theory is you guys were too busy chatting about girls, cheerleaders and all things nice," Jake piped in. Hayley knew that was a jab at her.

"No that's not it Jake because it warns us with a loud ringing, which you would even have heard, it must not have sensed them because it didn't detect their body temperature. This prototype has specific ranges of a monster's temperature to detect it. They are programmed to detect a Basilisk's temperature as well. Again I tested it on the ones in HQ, I have no idea why it didn't work," Felix said. Hayley could tell he looked stumped.

"Hey its okay, we're fine, you'll figure it out when we get back to HQ," Hayley offered.

"Yeah, don't worry about it, we are all good. Mistakes make us grow," Jake tried to explain. Hayley noticed that he seemed to let things go much easier with Felix. She didn't know if it was a guy thing, or they were better friends but it had irked her for some time now. Anyway she knew this wasn't the time to bring it up.

Felix looked cheerful again. "Yeah, I'm sure it was a bug or something, Good to know I didn't present it to the scientists and heads of the International yet, now that would have been embarrassing," He laughed at himself briefly.

"Yeah, see there is a reason you brought it out here man," Jake said patting Felix shoulder as they walked. It looked to be one of those brotherly gestures of reassurance.

They walked in silence after that. Each one lost in their own thoughts.

"Guys there it is, placed right at the edge of the stream there," Felix announced. He started running towards it with Hayley and Jake right behind him.

It looked to be a white chunky substance clustered together in a small patch by the edge of the stream. To a passer-by it might have looked to be projectile-vomit at a first glance. Felix kneeled down and opened his camping bag getting ready to collect some samples of it.

"Good now we can get out of here," Jake said.

A loud roar was suddenly heard from out of nowhere. Hayley felt a gust of wind pass by. They turned around and saw a Heraptacore towering a few feet away from the.

"It's a Heraptacore, Felix you keep collecting samples and me and Jake will distract him long enough" Hayley formulated.

She couldn't believe it was a Heraptacore. There hadn't been a live sighting of this monster for over a hundred years. It was extremely elusive and dangerous. According to the field handbook it had the power to suck one's energy and fuel it for its own body. The only way to capture one's energy was to rip its heart out and eat it. They were extremely elusive and probably haven't been seen for a hundred years because they also have the ability to teleport from one place to another. Which was why they were classified as Level 5, the highest category for describing a dangerous monster. While the theory was that they might have died out which is the reason for no sightings, Hayley had a feeling it was really that no one who witnessed them had come out alive. Unfortunately she was drawing a blank on how to defeat one. She was sure she had read it in the handbook.

"This night is just not our night, well at least we can go out in style saying we took on a Heraptacore," Felix vented.

"Felix just collect samples, we'll take of this, A Heraptacore huh? Hayley try the blaster on the thing, mine is busted from the water, aim for his eyes, the manual said the only way to defeat it is to puncture the eyes," Jake yelled.

Felix busied himself on the samples as fast as he could. Meanwhile , Hayley aimed the blaster and pulled the trigger. The Heraptacore dodged it.

"Okay I'll distract it while you aim for the eyes," Jake ran towards the monster and jumped onto it hanging on to its neck. To Hayley the Heraptacore reminded her of those Tyrannosaurus Rex, with it scales and slime and jagged teeth. It was two to three feet taller than them, and once Jake grabbed onto his neck, the Heraptacore moved every which way to try and get him off. Jake had a tight grip and would just get dragged along. Almost like a limp doll.

"Hayley now!!!" Jake shouted.

"What? Oh right," She tried to shoot it again. This time she shot the eye but aside from a few blinks nothing happened. She had to think of something fast, Jake was getting beaten up, the Heraptacore was growling and slamming him to the tree with his back. Still Jake held on.

She had an idea. She ran towards the Heraptacore with her gun in tow. As the monster swerved forcefully to one side she was on the receiving end and was thrown back and landed hard against a wide tree. She was still wearing her camping bag and felt the stabbing pain from that and her arms when it hit against the tree. She felt the pain running up her back as she got up. She knew would feel the bruises and pain tomorrow, surely after this. She grabbed her gun again and ran towards the Heraptacore who still had Jake hanging on his back. She stumped on the monsters feet, partly to injure it but also to get leverage to climb up a little and grab onto his arms that were flailing everywhere.

She suddenly saw a flash of bright light surround them, and felt dizzy and light headed. She must have hit her head harder than she thought at the tree. She used the arm of the monster to keep steady and focused on the task at hand, she used the narrow end of the gun blaster to puncture the eyes of the Heraptacore.

After an ear-piercing moan, the Heraptacore fell to the ground motionless. Hayley disentangled herself, as well as Jake slowly. He looked bruised and battered as she did. Another second later the monster disintegrated.

They stood there catching their breath for a few minutes before trying to speak.

"Are you okay?" They both asked each other. They both nodded simultaneously.

"That was unbelievable," Hayley said. She couldn't believe what just happened.

"Yeah, that was crazy, you were awesome Hayley, I can't believe you did that," Jake replied.

"Me neither, see Felix I told you that your guns are useful," Hayley said turning around.

"Felix?" She asked. He was nowhere to be found.

"Jake what happened? Where's Felix?" Hayley asked trying not to panic.

"Felix! Where are you man?" Jake asked looking around.

Hayley could sense that something was wrong. The scene looked different. Where was the stream that they were near, where was the white residue, where was Felix? All the questions were running through her mind. Right now all should could see was a small cave and that they were still in the forest, but it was so thick that there was hardly any light passing through. She grabbed onto Jake for reassurance that she wasn't alone.

"Jake where are we? You don't think the Heraptacore teleported us here before we killed him do you?" Hayley feared the answer.

"I think that is exactly what he did, Hayley. There is no sign of anyone else around," Jake said. He was fiddling with his watchcom. It was malfunctioning because of the water from the stream. Hayley tried hers. She looked at it properly and realized it was banged up. It was from when she got thrown onto the tree she just realized. Her watchcom was broken too.

Panic got the better of her, "Jake!" She screeched in a high voice, "What do we do now?"

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A/N: Hoped you liked it! Reviews are always appreciated. Makes for faster updates. ox


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I do not own The Troop and their monsters unfortunately. Although other made-up characters and monsters I do.

A/N: So my muse keeps pushing me to write especially after reading your reviews and messages. Thank you so much, they mean a lot. This chapter wasn't supposed to be a separate chapter. I was writing it with a different endpoint in mind. But then I saw the reviews and wanted to give something back asap to thank you. So I split it again. Which means the next chapter is already half written and could be out soon too. Again reviews might push me to write faster. Lol. So thank you! Especially with this particular fandom being new and all. Lets get people out there inspired by the show to write. :) I am loving all the episodes so far. Don't you? Please keep reviewing, really appreciate them!

Oh and would like to note it's T rating. If you aren't comfortable reading just skip it. Not saying it applies a lot here but also in the future. Happy reading!

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Chapter 5

"So no, my cell phone looks to be a goner too, I'm no Felix but my hunch is that it short-circuited when it fell in the stream, please tell me yours works?" Jake was busy trying to dry the batteries out hoping it might work then.

Hayley went to check her cell phone, she had put in her bag so other than a few scratches it looked fine to her. This was really their one hope. She checked her phone. Five missed calls, all from Chris. _Damn,_ she forgot to meet up with him after school. She knew that she would have to make up for it when they got back. She just remembered how they had made plans earlier in the week to go to some party Friday night. Major oops on her part, she had forgotten about it with everything that had been going on. Forgotten about him. She knew she had to make it up to him somehow. Maybe go to a few movies, definitely could not miss any of his fights for the rest of the season, and more that she would have to plan out later. Right now, she was a little preoccupied with her and Jake's current situation.

The winds had diminished somewhat, but the night air was still very cold. She pulled her tattered coat around her.

"Well it doesn't matter if it worked or not cause there doesn't seem to be any signal here," Hayley announced moving around her phone. No bars.

"Well how's your battery life? We can probably use it later, just turn it off for now so we don't waste it," Jake said.

"It's half empty…or half full, depends on how you look at it," Trying to find the humor in their situation. Turning it off for the time being, she slipped it back in her camping bag, and went though her bag to see what they had to work with.

She had calmed down a bit after a while. While she was still scared and petrified she knew it wouldn't help the situation. She tried not to think about it too much. She was glad she wasn't alone when the Heraptacore teleported though. Even if it was Jake. She knew that they had to work together or this really was their last …she did not even want to go there.

Shaking it off she started taking the contents out of her bag. They were sitting inside the small cave just trying to gain some strength after that tumultuous fight with the Heraptacore.

"Okay, so far we know that we only have a malfunctioning gun blaster G900, and my camping bag because you left yours at the stream," Hayley reminded him.

"Yep we've established that for the tenth time already, so what did you bring in your bag?" Jake inquired.

"Well, I always like to be prepared for the unexpected as you know, but even this I didn't see coming, you also didn't leave me much time to get ready anyway because of your rush to get this little investigation over and done with as I recall, so I was only able to bring the bare minimum of what I really wanted to bring," Hayley jabbed at him. She didn't mind if he felt the least bit guilty. He deserved it. As far as she saw they were in this situation because of him.

He stayed silent. She noticed that his knuckles were turning white.

She continued. "So I brought a Swiss army knife, some water, some crackers, chocolate bars," Jake gave her a look. "What? I didn't eat much before coming over here, some glass tubes to collect some specimens, a mini compact stunning ray, first aid kit, a lighter, a blanket and of course toilet paper," Hayley finished.

"So you were the one who stole Barney's Magic Bag, good to know, toilet paper?" Jake replied. "What no high tech laptop, GPS device?" Jake asked.

"No I knew you had and Felix had that covered," Hayley replied. "And yes toilet paper, anything involved outdoors I always bring toilet paper. After you watch those Survivor reality show for a few years you tend to pick up something,"

"And then some, okay if that's all we've got, then we need to first find out where we are," Jake said.

Hayley glanced around the cave that they were in. It didn't really go deep inside. It was big enough for a medium-sized bear to hibernate in. She noticed there was a slight stench that emanated from the dark corners.

She started packing everything into her bag again and slid closer to Jake. His physical presence was the only thing that seemed to calm her right now. The members of the Troop were on paper to be confident, defiant, gutsy, adventurous, ready for anything. Their youth, vivid imaginations gave them the advantage over adults. That is why Troop members could only be of a certain age. Those qualities certainly did describe Jake and Felix as far as the members of their Troop. Even to an extent herself. She couldn't figure out what it was, was it her gender betraying her, or her lack of materials and technology, but this situation that they were in unnerved her. She was terrified.

She looked over at Jake. He seemed to be lost in thought. Perhaps formulating a plan. She wanted to know what he was thinking about.

"My phone says that it's around seven-thirty right now," Hayley began.

"I know, Stella is going to kill me, it's going to take a lot of sci-fi date movies to make up for this"

That sounded familiar.

"I really hope she does go without me though, that guy is awesome," Jake said dully.

"I'm sorry you didn't get to meet him," Hayley said sincerely.

"Me too," He chuckled. "You have no idea what how many ways I was gonna make sure that I met him personally, I think the craziest one was going to be sneaking onto the platform on top of the lecture hall holding up a sign that …" Jake looked at Hayley realizing who he was talking to. He stopped himself, and cleared his throat.

"Anyway it doesn't matter now, let's get moving so we don't waste anymore time," Jake said standing back up.

Hayley stood up. Confused she slowly asked, "Wait I wanna know, what did the sign say? You can't just leave me hanging."

"Never mind, you actually wouldn't get it if you didn't read his works," Jake dismissed.

"Oh okay," Hayley said slightly fazed.

"Yeah, anyway let's get moving, see if we can find that stream, or some hint of civilization around here," Jake continued. "Remember to keep checking your phone."

"Right, my phone. Do you think we'll be able to find our way home tonight, I mean a Heraptacore from what little we know have been sighted here to all the way in Russia. Who knows if that was the same one? Who's to say that we aren't in another continent? Or a remote island that no one knows about" Hayley needed answers. Her imagination was getting the better of her.

"I know, I even had a theory that he teleported us somewhere in time," He laughed. "Outrageous right?"

Hayley started to trembled. She felt like she needed to sit down. Jake caught her.

"-which is not even possible, you know. Just something I came up with as a result of watching too many _Lost _episodes," Jake rushed out.

"Monster's aren't supposed to be possible but they are," Hayley shot back. Jake held her up to steady her.

"I know but listen, we are gonna be fine. What I think might have happened is that when we attacked the Heraptacore, he got scared and teleported back to his home or somewhere familiar, he just didn't know we were hanging onto him. He might have been residing deeper in the woods. It couldn't have been a coincidence that he just happened to show up right when we were collecting that residue. It was as if he was guarding it right? My suspicion is that we are still in the same forest," Jake explained.

Hayley raised her eyebrows.

"In the present time of course," Jake finished.

She did have to admit that he seemed to have thought it through. She just didn't know if it made sense or if she just wanted it to make sense.

"So you think that this was the Heraptacore's lair?" Hayley asked.

"I didn't want to tell you this before but the stench that you smell is from those dead remains at the back of the cave," Jake explained reluctantly.

She held his arm tighter and said. "So I am ready to get out of here, are you?"

"Just say the word." Jake said letting go of her.

"Let's go," Picking up her blaster and her bag Hayley ran out of the cave with Jake right behind her.

* * *

Felix barged the doors of HQ and headed right for the Troop grid. He had a bad feeling. They couldn't be reached on their watchcoms, which meant it was malfunctioning, or broken or even gone. Their cell phones went straight to voicemail too. He knew it was a long shot. The watchcoms were also the tracking devices that the Troop grid used to track its members.

Just as he suspected they were nowhere to be found on the Troop grid. His heart sank. What did the Heraptacore do? The Troop grid had the capability to track them from anywhere on the earth. Could it really have done something to them? _No_ he couldn't think like that. Time was essential. He needed to figure out another way to find them.

"Felix! It's nice to know that you can still grace me with your presence."

Mr. Stockley. Felix braced himself and turned to face him.

"Mr. Stockley sir. How have you been?" Silence. "Seen any good movies lately?" Felix sported causally.

Mr. Stockley, who to Felix was the epitome of prim and proper. Always the guy to hold out doors to fellow lady faculty members. Who always insisted in holding on to his suit lapel. Who was well respected among the staff of the school and the International. To Felix he was the guy he inspired to be when he got to his age a long, _long_ time in the future. He had to give the guy props. He still managed to look his classy, well-groomed, and his proper self while successfully projecting the image of terrifying and menacing to him. Felix gulped.

"What happened? When I get here after my meeting you guys are nowhere to be found! You know the rules. You always have to discuss your plans with me before venturing out on your own. Now why is that when I get back not only where you guys gone but according to the grid, all the way out in Riveridge Creek, in the deep woods no less!" Mr. Stockley exclaimed loudly.

"Well, I can explain…" Felix needed to find a way to explain it fast so that he could get back to focusing on finding Hayley and Jake. An explanation that left him alive as well. "You see we were waiting for you, but it was late and getting dark, so we decided to go out there really quickly to collect some samples, that's it. Then head right back here."

"So where are the samples?" Mr. Stockley asked.

"It's right here. I am going to send it to the Troop lab to have it evaluated." Felix said holding up the bag of samples.

"Okay, as long as there was no harm no foul, I will let this incident slide but you guys have to wait till after our meetings to go off on a mission." Mr. Stockley warned. He smiled afterwards.

"If something went wrong… do you know how worried about you guys I was, not to mention how much trouble we all would be in with the International, not only did I let you guys go off without the pretense of hearing your plans and approving them, but to let you go off to the woods near Riveridge creek without any backup? I mean the resurgence of monsters have nearly tripled in that area. It's like a breeding ground over there" Mr. Stockley said sighing with relief.

"Yeah trouble, can't have that now can we…" Felix trailed off. He didn't want to put Mr. Stockley into more grief right now. If he couldn't find Hayley and Jake by the end of the weekend then he would have to confess.

"Okay, so I am off to my date with Ms. Brown, wish me luck, if you don't have any reports to give me I'll see you guys on Monday," Mr. Stockley announced.

Felix sighed.

"Just a second, where are Hayley and Jake?" He asked suddenly.

"Oh umm… they had plans, you know Friday night so they left right away, I'll be leaving soon too," Felix improvised.

"Those two, always leaving you with the heavy work. You should relax and take a break, it's a Friday night! See you Monday," left.

Felix let out a breath he was holding. If only he could, so much for his first high school party. He would have to spend the whole weekend in HQ figuring out where Hayley and Jake went. He would have to notify his parents as well as Jake's and Hayley's. The run-of-the mill excuses they gave them whenever they had a case that needed an extra night or two to finish. "Cheerleading sleepover, science camp, Exhibition game in town staying over at Felix's." He just prayed to God that they were okay, and if they were he would expend all the resources available to him to find them. To him this went beyond a Troop member's obligation, they were his best friends. If it weren't already obvious to anyone, he would do anything for them.

First he was going to send the samples to the lab. Something that Mr. Stockley said was still in the back of his mind. _It's like a breeding ground over there._ Something clicked in his head. He rushed over to the lab to confirm his suspicions.

* * *

Hayley and Jake had been walking for about an hour. To Hayley everything looked the same. It was eerily quiet. She didn't like it. Still no bars on her cell phone. What if they were walking deeper into the woods instead of getting out of it. She had given her stunning freeze ray to Jake. She didn't know if her G900 would ever work but if it did, it was better than a freeze ray as far as capabilities.

"Maybe this isn't a good idea, it's too dark to actually tell where we are going, and we might even be going deeper in the woods instead of out of it." Hayley voiced out. She still felt sore from their earlier fight and her legs were no better.

"Another hour, if we don't find something then, we can crash for the night," Jake helped her up from big rock. They seemed to be walking upwards on an incline. She stepped up on another rock and held onto a nearby tree for support.

"Ugh Jake, my feet hurt," Hayley whined. She hated sounding like a damsel in distress, she never pulled that card whenever they were on a mission. Heck, if they were on a mission that had her in trouble she told the boys to back off first so she could figure out how to help herself. She stepped on another boulder when she felt it move and heard a growling sound from beneath it. It moved again. Hayley lost her balance and caught a branch of a nearby tree.

"What was-" Hayley looked upwards. The rock that she had stepped on rose from the ground was attached to a familiar monster. It seemed that the rock was part of the monster's back.

"The behemoth, oh this is not good," Jake said from behind her.

The behemoth was almost indestructible. It was made of hard rocks and stones. The only thing that could kill it was a Quantum Integrated Reciprocating Pulse Laser Ray under a specific spot under the arm. Its very nature was to kill and destroy anything in its path. The classic cliché in a description of a monster.

"Try the blaster it's the only thing that might work," Jake said by Hayley's side.

Hopefully Felix was able to tune the frequency to the specific laser to defeat the behemoth as well. It was a monster that they battled before so she didn't see a reason why it wouldn't work.

"Okay here it goes, under the arm right?" Hayley pulled the trigger and aimed for the arm. The behemoth roared as the laser seemed to bounce right off.

"Okay that didn't work. Plan B Run!" Jake said as they took off.

Hayley trailed behind Jake forcing her sore legs forward. She could hear the Behemoth right behind them pushing the trees and the rocks down that was in its path while they tried to dodge them.

"Over here!" Jake grabbed her hand and felt him take a sharp turn. He abruptly stopped and pushed them both down in what looked to be a ledge, or an overhang of a rock. He took their guns and hid it in a small hole in the ground and moved some dried leaves on it. The rock had a small space underneath that they could hide in. But to Hayley it looked like there was only space for one person.

Jake pushed her inside before she could think and followed her scrambling inside. "If we can't outrun it we need to hide," He whispered. She felt his breath on her ear as he said it. She squirmed to make room for him, as he was only halfway in. They could not be found or it really would be the end for them.

She lifted her body upwards where her back was in an arc from the curve of the top of hollow of the rock, her bag taking up space on the roof of the rock. She used her knees to hold her up and leaned on the side of the rock with her arm. This allowed for more room for Jake to slide underneath so that he was half laying on the side of the hollow that her arm was on and half laying on his back on the ground under her. Their faces were now inches from each other. She moved her knees so that it went on both side of his legs as he moved his legs all the way inside the hollow of the rock. All she could see were arms and legs as they moved to find a comfortable position.

She felt the ground shake and her arms fell onto Jake's shoulder as she listened. The Behemoth was close, it sounded like he was on top of the rocks above them. One small jump and that was it, they were going to be found.

"Don't move," Jake said looking straight at her. Hayley looked back at him and nodded.

It was as if the Behemoth could sense that they were close by, it came really close when it stood on top of the rocks above them and then would search around trying to find them. Thankfully if didn't jump down from rocks they were under to look for them. Hayley had the slight suspicion that the term "dense as a rock" originated from the Behemoth.

With the Behemoth in close proximity there wasn't a chance they could get out yet. Minutes passed. Hayley's knees were starting to hurt from holding her up from the hard ground. Any second she could feel that she was about to collapse on top of Jake. That was the end of their hiding place when the Behemoth heard that. Her knees were starting to shake.

She suddenly felt hands slide up her torso holding her up. She gave in and released the pressure on her knees. Her whole weight was now pressing onto Jake as he held onto her. Her arms pushing slightly up from his chest she looked up at him. She gave him a grateful look, as he gave her a questioning one as if to ask if she was okay. He nodded and took to once again listening in on the Behemoth. A slight shake in the ground told her that he was still lurking above them somewhere.

She tried not to think of the position that they were in too much. Although her mind seemed to drift there even if this was a dangerous situation they were in. His smell again relaxed her. It was something familiar. Even if both of them were sweaty and dirty there was a different scent from him comforted her. It was no longer the smell of cheese puffs that she remembered from when they switched bodies back in freshman year. Speaking of which she could feel every toned muscle that her body was touching on his. Oh yeah, he had definitely changed from what she remembered. She could not believe she was checking him out at a time like this.

His legs started to move underneath her lower body. As she was currently straddling him, it created a friction underneath her lowers that she couldn't help but notice. Her cheeks started to flush and her eyes started to roll behind the back of her head. She caught herself just then and used her arms to push his legs back to their old position.

"What are you doing?" She whispered harshly. He seemed unaware of the affects that he had on her.

"I,..my legs fell asleep, I need to move it," Jake reasoned.

"Not now!" Hayley whispered.

"Yes now! It's starting to hurt," He moved his legs so that his knees were now bent and she was forced to move upward where she was now straddling his lower body. She was getting too close where it was soon becoming a whole other level of uncomfortable for her. Still she noted Jake didn't seem to notice. She had to bend her back lower on to him to accommodate her bag again, and she found herself an inch apart from his face. He looked away before she did.

"Only for a few minutes, I was getting a cramp, sorry," Jake explained looking outside into the woods.

"Uh hmm," Hayley forced out. She could feel her whole face was getting hot, and had no doubt that it was red. She thanked God it was dark so Jake couldn't see. She closed her eyes for a brief while. She could do without one of her senses for a while. Everything seemed heightened in such close proximity for her.

She tried a change in topics, "Do you think it's gone?"

"No, if you listen to the ground you can hear the vibrations, meaning the Behemoth is still close by, we have to wait till it gets fainter."

"Right…" She didn't know what to say.

She noticed that his chest was shaking and noticed he was slightly laughing.

"Man, if someone told me this morning that this was what was gonna happen tonight, I would have said that it would never happen in a million years, I never thought this would happen. This is so crazy," He laughed. It broke the tension.

She smiled too. Joining in, "Yep, the madness that is our lives"

This was going to be a long night.


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I do not own the Troop and its characters or monsters. Original characters and monsters I do.

A/N: So I was totally floored by the response I got for the last chapter. I was honestly unsure about it because it was really the chapter that started the whole Jake/Hayley tension. I wasn't sure if people were gonna be comfortable or not. And if you aren't then you probably should just skip, but there will be more in the future as a fair warning. So anyway I would like to thank you! And did anyone see the promos for next ep in Feb? So excited by the Valentine's themed episode. Lol.. Ok and just want to address some reviews:

Loganlermanfan:Thank you! I love Felix as much as Jake and Hayley so I wanted him to be very much part of the story. Lol

Vladdie: Thank you! Glad you like it. On the cellphone thing yea she turns it off to save battery life but turns it for a sec every now and then to check the time and bars.

Tvmatchmaker:Thank you and yes he still is, but that could change soon. Lol. I like Jaley, rolls of the tongue better but hey whatever works for you guys too

Alienphantom: Yep if only it could happen on the show, if only it was on a network television like CW lol

Physiclover:Thanks for the review!!

Aheartonmyhand: No worries, I know ppl get busy but thanks again for always reviewing. Glad to hear you liked the last chapter, I was a little hesistant but yea Jake and Hayley tension is fun to write

FreshHighlighters:Thanks for the review!! If only it was on CW right? The possibilities would be limitless. Lol. Yep and counting down to next eppie!! Cannot come soon enough.

* * *

Chapter 6

After what felt like an hour tensely waiting, Hayley finally had the resolve to check if they were in the clear.

"I think we are good, I haven't heard a rustling sound for a solid half hour," Hayley whispered. "What do you think? Should we check if we are safe?" Hayley asked Jake.

"Jake?" Silence. "Jake?" She nudged him.

"Jake!" Still lying on top of him she shook him. Hard.

"Huh? What? Who are you and what are you doing in my bed?" Jake in his drowsy state asked. He had fallen asleep. She couldn't believe that he had fallen asleep! They were literally inches away from being killed by a Behemoth.

"This is not your bed! In fact this is the complete 180 of your safe haven of a bed," Hayley said. She wasn't sure if the proximity contributed to her anger, maybe it gave her confidence that she was in short distance of ringing his neck but she really wanted to lay it on him for what she felt like him deserting her.

"How stupid are you?" She started. "Seriously?"

After looking around his surroundings and realizing where they were he finally said, "So we are doing this again, okay look I just fell asleep for a few minutes, and see we are perfectly fine .The Behemoth looks to have left anyway," Jake said rubbing his eyes.

"That's not the point, when was the last time you've ever seen me slack off in a mission?" Hayley asked. She was really riled up for some reason. No actually there was a reason, Jake fell asleep. She knew that it looked completely ridiculous to be arguing when they were in this kind of position but she didn't care. Jake just seemed to shake everything off and get away with it. His dedication to the Troop was admirable, his line of action in the Troop sometimes questionable. At least to Hayley.

"I am not slacking off. Falling asleep in school is completely different from falling asleep here. I was tired. Fell asleep because I knew that you would never sleep on the job so I stole a few Z's. I'm sorry. It won't happen again. But I don't think we should be talking about this now. This is not the time or place to talk about this. I say we check our surroundings."

Oh he thought he was good. He was a swindler as far as getting what he wanted using words convincing people. Felix, Mr. Stockley. She had known him too long to be fooled by it. Where another person might forgive and forget she would not. This was not over. She ignored the slight pang of guilt; an automatic response from the green eyes that looked directly at her in his previous statement.

"Fine!" She relented. She couldn't completely ignore it. But this was still far from over. She figured he was right, this was not the time and most certainly not the place.

She felt Jake move and slide out. She climbed out after him. It was still dark and cold. She noticed that she didn't seem to be bothered by the cold under the small space in the dark. She took off her bag and laid it down and dug out the blaster and the freeze ray and set it next to the bag.

They were silent for a long time with Jake surveying the surroundings.

"So everything does look clear," Jake came back over stretching his body out.

"Yeah so let's get going," Hayley went to move.

"Hey, maybe we should just crash here for the night," Jake suggested.

"Really?"

"Yeah, you said you're sore right? It's already late and as the Behemoth proved I don't think that it's safe to go out and explore at night, so what do you say?" Jake said.

"Yeah sounds good to me, so are you hungry?" Hayley said sitting down and opening her bag and fishing for the food.

"A little I guess,"

Hayley briefly checked her phone again. No bars. It was 1:00am. Another pang of guilt for scolding Jake for sleeping.

"Here let's half my chocolate bar," Hayley broke the chocolate in half gave one to Jake.

"Thanks," He said taking it and sitting down.

She felt the slight tension in the air. As if they were both afraid to broach a topic that would set the other one off. It was probably because of the tirade that she went on with Jake earlier.

Hayley shivered. She was reminded of how cold it was outside.

"Your cold, look at your coat its like it went through a shredder or something," Jake noticed. "You should look for that blanket in you bag." Jake said finishing off his chocolate.

"Oh right," Hayley said rubbing her hands after her chocolate. She took the blanket out of her bag and wrapped it around her.

"How about we light a fire too? Hayley suggested thinking that Jake must be cold too.

"I wouldn't risk it, we still don't know what is lurking out there and wouldn't want to attract anything" Jake dismissed.

"Oh right,"

Another bout of silence.

"So you can sleep in that space under the rock, It's much safer so that anything won't sneak on you in your sleep" Jake suggested.

"Thanks for that visual, but what about you?" Hayley asked.

"I'll be fine out here, us Collins men were built for the outdoors you know," Jake said pushing his chest out.

Hayley smiled, "Right, I must be losing it cos I could have sworn that when we had to go hiking to sneak up on the Perodactyl monster that you called half way up to send a helicopter team because you said there was no possible way to get up there, but in reality you only had a cramp. Do you realize had we actually had it your way the Perodactyl monster would have spotted the helicopter and flown away before we could have even stunned it,"

"Yeah well as the saying goes, for every 10 acts of courage there is an act of being petrified" he continued, "Wasn't it you if I remember correctly that was afraid of leaving the house because Etienne was stalking you that semester after the school play?"

"Being afraid of a person is not the same as being afraid of monsters," Hayley said getting up and climbed into the space under the rock.

"People are much more scarier," Hayley admitted.

"Huh, maybe to you and Felix, but I don't care about what other people think, that way I don't get affected, its that simple," Jake said.

"Oh, so you don't care about say what Stella thinks,"

"Of course I do, I care when it comes down to the people who are close to me, unfortunately whether I want to or not…Does that make sense?" Jake just realizing what he said.

"Uh yeah I think," Hayley said, not sure if she meant what she said. She was now lying back under the overhang of the rock again with her back against the ground. She used her bag as a pillow. It was much more roomy now that they were not squeezed into it. She saw Jake still lying quite a few distance away.

"Listen you should just come over and share the blanket for the night," Hayley said.

"But I said I could handle-"

"I know what you said, and I believe you one hundred percent plus ten percent bonus for telling Etienne to back off, but as Troop members and I am quoting from the Manuel here, _Troop members are required to have each other's backs in unknown territory, _so I am going ahead and putting that in the literal sense except side by side not back to back cos that would be uncomf-"

"Okay, okay I get it! If it will get you to stop talking," Jake said walking over and climbing under the blanket to lie next to Hayley. If the Behemoth ever came back Jake could be easily spotted, she just hoped it was long gone by now. She remembered that their weapons were within reach under the small hole at least.

"Okay," Hayley said looking up nothing in particular, just darkness. She could not fall asleep.

"So you care what people think?" She started again.

"Certain people," Jake said. His eyes were closed and his arm was resting on it.

Hayley guessed meant he wanted to get back to sleep. She pressed on, "Certain people like friends?"

"Uh hmm.." She could sense he was drifting.

"Like moi?" She exaggerated. She already knew the answer to it. She just liked the self-gratification. It made her feel better for the time being. She wanted to keep conversation going for the sake of conversation since sleeping was not an option yet. A little complimenting, teasing here and there, a little discussion about trivial things like the weather would be fine too, it was Jake and Hayley's bread and butter of a relationship, that and their arguments.

"Yeah, whatever gets you through the night Hayley," Jake said as he moved so that his back was now facing her if she looked back at him.

Just a little insulted and just for the sake of it she gave his shoulder a hard push.

"What the, I am trying to sleep here! Something you could do so that we can get out of here sooner tomorrow morning, geez and you call me immature," Jake scoffed.

"Whatever, goodnight," Hayley said fuming. She turned her back on him as well so that they were facing the opposite sides. Jake could never take the hint when she wanted to talk. She forced her eyes to close and willed herself to fall asleep. She wanted to wake up from this nightmare as soon as possible.

* * *

Hayley opened her eyes to the morning light. She must have been more tired than she thought because she slept through the night and wasn't even troubled the least bit. She had been sure she wouldn't be able to get to sleep at all. Although she guessed her pillow of a bag could have contributed. It was really comfortable. She nuzzled it hoping get a few more minutes in to snooze a little.

Again with the breath on her ear, and thumping sound from underneath her bag. No, her bag wasn't this firm. She lifted her head and looked around her. It was Jake. They were somehow in the same position they were in when they hiding from the Behemoth.

"Ahhh!" Stunned and alarmed she screamed.

Jake woke up and finding her screaming started to scream as well. "Ahh!"

They stopped and both made a move to get off each other at the same time. This led to some tripping and scrambling before finally getting up and out.

"What did you do?" Hayley screamed.

"Me? You were the one who was on top of me! What did you do?" Jake replied back.

"I, You moved me back on top of you when you pushed my bag out!"

"What and why would I do that?" Jake said.

"I don't know, you finally had the guts to tap into your creeper side, who the hell knows with you" Hayley said.

Jake grinded his teeth. Hayley noted that his angular features were more pronounced when he was mad. Especially his jaw. "I have a girlfriend! That makes no sense!"

"Still, you've creeped on girls before,"

"Not since freshman year and I have a girlfriend!"

"Still don't buy it," Hayley replied.

"Well despite what you wanted to hear yesterday I don't care what you think!" Jake shot back.

Hayley wasn't sure why she just wouldn't let this go. It wasn't like anything happened. She needed to stop before anyone said anything that they would regret. It was already leaning towards that with the last thing Jake said. That hurt.

"Fine I will let this slide, and we will both agree that it never happened," Hayley said.

"Fine sounds good,"

"But you have to admit that you do care about what I think of you," Hayley said. This really mattered to her. Jake was best friend along with Felix and Demi. She had to have mattered to him somehow. She knew this wasn't the time or place but she didn't care. If it took for them getting lost in the woods to talk about this thing then so be it.

"Not a chance," Jake replied meeting her stare with his.

Hayley took a deep breath. So she didn't matter. Okay then. "Okay so if that's that, then here take my freeze ray, and I'll take my stuff and blaster, I think we should go our separate ways heading back to HQ, you don't value me enough to care what I think"

"I care what you think when it's business okay," Jake answered.

"But not as a friend, well I don't work with people who trust me that's a deal breaker for me, sorry" Hayley went on. She took a bottle of water out of her bag and handed it to Jake. She put her blanket back in the bag and gathered her stuff ready to head out.

"It does matter look I was just-"

"Whoever gets to HQ first just let them know about the other one so they can send a rescue team out, good luck Jake," Hayley said. She set off. She could hear Jake mumbling something with the word "stupid" but didn't care for the context. She really thought he would follow her and at least convince her. He never did. He really didn't care. She just hoped he would be okay and could get back safely. That they both would.

* * *

A/N: I know another one. Lol. Just want to apologize for the slow update. I got sick, stomach virus, not pretty but now I'm good and will have another chapter out soon! Reviews again are always appreciated! Ty!


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I do not own The Troop or its monsters. I do own original characters and monsters.

A/N: Ahh! The reviews are so wonderful. So glad to be hearing from other fans of the growing Troop fandom. There were too many replies to do it on here so I want to do it individually if you have a reply option just to thank you personally. For those anonymous ones (since I don't know how to get in touch with you) Thank you so much for the reviews! They keep me smiling all day. Please let me know how you like this chapter. Thank you!

Oh and who loved that Valentines episode? I was literally squealing and giggling the whole time. It was funny, cute, awkward, and sweet all in one. I just wished it could have been longer. I hope they don't forget about the moment and sweep it under the rug. Hopefully it gets brought up again or at least the developing relationship between them. And there definitely was a moment. Lol. I'm thinking of doing a one shot on that episode cos my mind wont stop racing so hopefully I'll have the time. Once again thank you as always guys!

* * *

Chapter 7

Hayley couldn't help but reflect for a split second on how she turned out to be fighting her fifth monster of the day on a Saturday afternoon alone. This was her first time to truly fight without help. There would always be some backup from either Jake or Felix; sometimes later rather than sooner but still. It was Troop manual code. She was starting to see how that particular code made sense. This was the first time she had to rely on herself. She couldn't even use her blaster. She didn't know if it was malfunctioning but whenever she needed it and the light came on signaling it was ready it was literally nothing but air. She had to conjure up her Jujitsu skills and martial arts training to tackle the heavy monsters.

She noticed that the monsters were somehow different, as if they were stronger or smarter. They could sense when her moves were becoming predictable to them and would counter-strike her. The first two monsters she managed to scare away but the other two she had to outrun because they didn't seem to back down.

This fifth one looked to be on the track of Plan A. He seemed to be tiring out. She delivered a swift punch on his scaly jaw and sent him flying to the corner by a tree. In a way she felt good and empowered taking the monsters down on her own.

"Yeah do you want some more? Plenty more where that came from," She coaxed with her hands.

The monster, which she wasn't quite familiar with and had never encountered before, rose up on its two legs. It shook off what Hayley could predict was a massive migraine after that punch and surprisingly started towards her again. It looked like a giant lizard on its two legs with his tongue moving from side to side of its mouth ready to charge her.

"Note to self, remember to think before you speak especially when in front of heated monsters," Hayley turned around and started running transitioning into Plan B. She needed to get out of there. Her stamina was waning.

She really hoped that Jake was faring much better than her considering this place was laden with monsters that were from places found around Lakewood to the places such as Africa and Brazil and some that she had never seen before. She was pretty sure that the other Lenisope monster that she tackled in the morning resided in hot, dry places and liked to absorb heat to convert into energy. It basically never got tired in places such as Africa. What was it doing here where the sun needed to weed its way through in small rays in the think forest? If they were still in Lakewood then the season was transitioning into winter. And yet it seemed to have all the energy from the deserts of Africa because it was one of the monsters that she had to run away from.

She took a sharp turn to the left and ducked from view hiding behind a large tree and crouched down to the floor. She listened carefully for the monster who was coming closer, she gripped her knees a little harder and could feel her heart pumping rapidly. She could hear it coming closer and then just as suddenly it started fading which meant it had completely passed her. She did a onceover check coming up from behind the tree.

Everything seemed to be quiet for now. She didn't know how long she could keep this up. If these woods were riddled with monsters and she had no backup and little to no resources she could pull from to battle all sorts of monsters she knew that she wouldn't be able to last. She crouched back down resting on the tree.

As soon as she told Jake to get lost she regretted it. Almost everything in her had screamed at her to take it back; the reasons seemed endless, the Troop manual with its "stronger in numbers" cliché or the "two heads are better than one" phrase. Their combined field experience. Then there were the more personal ones such as Jake could always think better straight than Hayley could in difficult pressure-filled situations. He definitely had good leader qualities. She needed his reassurance. She needed her friend. It was her stupid pride that had trumped all those reasons and had forbade her to take it back. This was all getting to be too much, this whole week was. Although in retrospect she would gladly tackle the news of being kicked of the squad if it meant she didn't have to be here in this place alone.

She felt the tree that she was leaning on give way. Or rather she fell back on a pair of legs that stepped back and left her to fall over on the ground. She looked up to a face staring back at her. It was a girl with black curly hair and wearing a light green dress. Hayley looked down at the girl's feet that looked like they were rooted to the ground but just then turned into a pair of feet. She looked very familiar.

"You're, you're…her from school!" Hayley got up, her face with a wide-eyed expression.

"I know we got off on the wrong foot last time but we really need your help, is Jake here too?" the girl said.

"You're that Dryad that turned the student council into trees!" Hayley exclaimed.

"Yes, I'm sorry again for that but I have left you alone since you guys did the same for us," she answered back. "You can call me Laurel by the way,"

"Wha- What are you doing here and where is here by the way?" Hayley was relieved that she was here to be honest. She needed answers and maybe she could help.

"I've been watching these woods with the other Dryads for unusual activities for the past two months, something very strange is going on but we can't put our branches on it" Laurel informed her.

"But why do you care? I thought you only wanted us stay away from you guys,"

"We have always had good relations with other monsters of our kind like we have had with you guys, but there are new monsters that don't care about our trees and the environment and are creating mischief in so many parts of these woods but whenever we try to confront them or talk to them they either disappear or turn violent, we are honestly no match for them, I've lost family over this" Laurel said with a slight sob. "We don't know what to do, we are surveying things right now in different parts of the woods, but I'm so glad to have found a member of the Troop to help us, Jake must have sent you here, he was always that thoughtful guy," she said dreamily.

Was she missing something that everybody else was seeing about Jake? Anyway, back to the monsters she told herself, "So what have you found out so far?" Hayley asked.

"Honestly, not that much. Whenever any of them sense that we are around them it's like I said before, but there is this strange cabin a few miles from here that seems to eerie and too calm to be living in a place this isolated. No one seems to be bothering it and vice versa. It doesn't add up"

"Have you looked into it?" Hayley asked, her heart pumping rapidly as if following a horror story.

"No I haven't I'm still shaken up by some of the things I've seen with my fellow brother's and sisters I'm so glad you guys are here to take care of things, if there is anything I can do for you guys after this you have to let me know," Laurel said wiping away a few tears. "Where's Jake by the way?" Laurel inquired.

Hayley felt bad for Laurel, in different circumstances they could have been friends asking for each other's help and a shoulder to lean on. She really couldn't tell the truth about her predicament at present, and well she had a really good suspicion that talking to Jake wasn't entirely about asking for help. Laurel didn't really need to talk to Jake she could relay the information to him herself as soon as she finds him. Hayley needed to find him and apologize.

"Jake sent me to investigate the situation actually, he is at Headquarters investigating it from there, but I'll be sure to pass your update and greetings along!" Hayley lied. She felt a sense of guilt but pushed it to the back of mind. Those plays and Drama club at school really did come of some use in real life.

"Oh, okay well when this situation blows over after you guys take care of it I'll probably stop by and say hi and catch up with him," Laurel said putting on a sweet smile.

"Yeah Yeah I'm sure he'd like that, now about this cabin where did you say it was?" Hayley asked changing the topic to something more time worthy.

"Oh I can make a trail of leaves that can lead you right up there, it should be about four to five miles from here… you understand that I can't go with you right? I just want to stay with my Dryad family right now. But I'm so happy that I can finally go back to them with good news for once!" Laurel exclaimed grabbing Hayley's hands and giving them a grateful shake.

_Just keep eye contact, smile and nod._ The sense of shame overwhelmed her. She didn't know if she could keep the promise that Laurel had assumed she had just made. Her lies were accumulating by the minute, Jake, helping her, if she could even _help_ her, but this lead was all she had, she had to take it even if it led to the unknown. She didn't even know the reasons behind the lies except that it was too late to undo them.

"No problem, the Troop are monster hunters it's what we do!" Hayley forced a laugh taking her hands back.

"Good! I knew there was a good reason I didn't turn you into a tree," She giggled. "I got to go but if you need any extra help I'll be sure to send some in one form or another as long as you are here!" Laurel giddily said as if she was a normal teenage girl. She sort of reminded her of her friends in the squad.

"Oh and one last question, just to make sure and all, nothing to be concerned about but we are still in the woods in Riveridge Creek in Lakewood right?" Hayley asked anxiously.

"That's on the other side of these woods it would take about a day to walk for you humans but yeah we are still here in Lakewood, you guys and your weird questions," Laurel dismissed.

"Oh ok yeah of course I knew that I just wanted to make sure we are on the same page…" Hayley finished slowly.

"Haha I didn't know you were so funny, and if I could just say something too," She paused. "I'm surprised you and Jake haven't happened yet given our last encounter, oh well I guess my radar was off even if I am a Dryad I thought it was so clear anyway, I'll see you soon Hayley!" Laurel waved goodbye.

Hayley felt a whoosh of wind go by and when she looked back up Laurel was gone leaving a trail of golden leaves for Hayley to follow.

* * *

While Felix was waiting on the results from the lab he busied himself with the Troop grid. He hadn't gotten a lot of sleep. He didn't even go home. He was wracking his brain with the "What ifs" scenario the whole night. What if they had better weapons, what if he didn't insist on using his prototypes, what if he had helped them.

He shook his head again. He needed to focus on finding them, he could hear Hayley's voice, _What done is done just focus on how to fix it. _Or Jake's _Don't sweat it man, we all make mistakes you just got to learn from them, see that's what Batman said to his young protégé Robin in issue 768. _ They were right of course even if they were imaginary.

Still not a signal or blimp on the radar screen on the Troop grid regarding Hayley or Jake. The best scenario in which that could be possible is that their watches got broken somehow and that was the one he was going to go with, never mind any others. He just needed to figure out a way. He felt his pants vibrate. It was his phone. Since not many people had his phone number it had to be Jake or Hayley. He picked it up.

"Jake? Hayley?" Felix hoped.

"What? Isn't Hayley supposed to be with you studying? That's what her mom said when I called house phone, she's not answering her cell" a girl voice asked.

"Huh maybe… I'm sorry who is this?" Felix asked gently.

"It's Demi! Sorry I hope you don't mind me calling you Hayley gave me your number today after I asked for it," Demi said shyly.

"Oh no don't worry about it, so what can I do you for?" Felix asked.

"Well first of all is Hayley there?"

"Um not right now she stepped out for some fresh air because we've been studying all night," Felix said quickly.

"Oh with Jake?" Demi asked.

"Jake?"

"Yeah you asked for Jake and Hayley on the phone when I first called," Demi explained.

"Oh yeah right, we are all in the study group," Felix had to double check if there were any holes in the story in his mind.

"Hmm, there has always been something interesting going on with those two don't you think?" She paused. Felix tried to think of some kind of explanation that didn't involve the Troop. But she dismissed it before he could. "Well anyway it doesn't matter I'll just talk to her on Monday, I actually wanted to talk to you," Demi said.

"M- me?" Felix squeaked.

"Yeah, I understand you are good with technology and all that complicated stuff right?"

"Um, I do have a certain amount of knowledge under my belt that is correct yes," Felix could not help being overconfident; it was the one of the few things he could brag about without having to snark someone afterwards.

"Great! I was wondering if you could come over when your free to take a look at my computer for me, I don't know what happened but it is not working, I've tried all sorts of things but it just shows me a blank screen," Demi explained.

"Hm well I can't do it this weekend-"

"Oh I know! Is Monday okay for you? Anytime really, I'm just worried because all my projects, presentations, student council agendas are on there, but whenever you can do is fine, I would be eternally grateful Felix please?" Demi begged.

"Oh okay," Felix relented. "We'll try for Monday after school, I'll let you know if anything else comes up,"

"Thank you Thank you a million times over! You're such a lifesaver Felix!" Demi exclaimed. _Oh the irony_ Felix thought reminded of his current friends.

"No problem, we'll talk details on Monday,"

"Okay sounds good! Thanks Felix!"

Felix clicked the phone and hung up. What a scary and weird week this was turning out to be. And there have definitely been a lot of weeks that could compete against that statement. Sadly. Felix shook his head and tried to clear his mind concentrating on the task at hand.

* * *

Hayley checked her phone. It was four in the afternoon. She had been walking for two hours after Laurel had left. She was tired. She had taken a few breaks and was down to a few crackers and her water bottle was a quarter full. She could feel another panic attack coming on. She tried thinking of something fun, and light to keep her distracted.

Cheerleading, the Troop, Cheerleading and the Troop, Jake and Felix dressing up as girls to get in on the slumber party with the cheerleaders. Hayley laughed at that one. That was such a hilarious situation now that she looked back at it. It was like they fit right in, or they looked the part at least. Felix with his exaggerated tone fit right in with the girls. And then there was Jake.

Jake. She wondered where he was, if he was okay, she could feel her panic attack coming back head on. She didn't even remember what their stupid argument was about. She just wanted to take it all back and rewind the events of this morning, this whole week in fact. She would still be in cheerleading, wouldn't have lost valuable friendships, wouldn't have lost Jake, wouldn't have been just lost in both senses of the word. She stopped walking and bent over with her hands resting on her knees. She needed to breath, and relax.

She closed her eyes and opened them again looking down at.... _Roses?_ There was a path of roses that had just met up with the trail of leaves that she had just stopped at. She had never noticed them before. Did they just appear just now? With her line of vision she followed the path of roses from where they started with the trail of leaves to see a silhouette a few distance away. She gasped. The silhouette moved forward. Hayley squinted to see what it was.

It was Jake. Her heart leaped. He was okay.

"Jake? Jake!" Hayley waved. She felt as if a huge weight had lifted off of her. She had never felt so happy and relieved in her life.

"Hayley?"

She took off her camping bag and ran right to him. She needed to make sure he was real. She crashed into him and wrapped her arms around him. She could feel tears welling up in her eyes, her lips starting to quiver. She couldn't even think of a way to start off.

"I'm so sorry Jake I don't even know what got into me, please just forget everything I said let's never split up again from this point on," Hayley spit out. Her chin was on his shoulder as she spoke she continued. "I don't know what I would do if anything happened to you, I was so scared," she could feel herself breaking down. She could feel her usually cool, calm and collected self slip away from her for the moment. She didn't care though. This was Jake, one of the few people she trusted with her life. Why not with her feelings and insecurities.

"Shh it's okay I'm fine see," Jake consoled her. "See? Everything from the messy curly hair to my ripped abs I mean jeans" He joked making light of the situation. He gently tried to pull away from her to reassure her face to face. She chuckled lightly but only hugged him tighter.

"I don't even know why I made such a big deal I'm so sorry, I think this week getting kicked off the squad and then getting lost on top of that really put things over the top," She continued. He tried to tug her off so that he could see her face to talk to her but she held on even tighter. Her legs started to give way so she wrapped them around his waist. He held her for a little while without any protest, thankfully. She just wanted to stay like this for a while.

* * *

A/N: So I have chapter 8 coming out in two to three days. Please look out for it. After that I need to finish my big paper for class. So there might be a while again till I update. So that's why I'm rushing chapter eight so I can get out to you guys and out of my way. Lol. I don't want to keep you guys waiting for too long, cos I hate when it's done to me. Haha. TC


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I do not own the Troop and the original monsters. They belong to Viacom and Nickelodeon. Other original characters and monsters I can claim to own.

A/N: Chapter 8! I'm so excited to see the growing fanfics on the site. I definitely am going to read them I just have been so busy. Sorry this came out later rather than sooner. I don't if you were a part of it but the East coast of the US got slammed with back to back blizzards. At one point the power went out. So I wrote the first half of this chapter on good old-fashioned paper. Sorry it's a bit long hope you don't mind. But I wanted to stop it at a place where you and me would be happy. As expressed in the reviews as well lol. So thank you for the reviews! Please let me know how you like it! Enjoy! And pls R&R! Oh and spoiler on some episodes if you haven't see all of the ones out so far I try to incorporate them so just a warning.

* * *

Chapter 8

"-And so that's why she kicked me off the squad! She said I didn't have the dedication that the squad needed to win this year! Can you believe it? I mean if she only knew!" Hayley vented. She was just getting the events of what happened earlier in the week off her shoulders. It was as if it all came out as soon as she started talking to Jake.

They were sitting down side by side leaning on a tree. After the emotional reunion that Hayley would normally feel embarrassed about Jake suggested they take a break and sit down. After that, it was all it took to take the barricades down and after apologizing profusely Hayley started gushing about her bad week.

"That's not right, it's exactly the classic case of hero's or in this care heroine's sacrifice that goes unappreciated and overlooked that comic books like to use…" Jake started. Hayley gave him a look. "But of course no one can understand real human experience, I'm sorry go on" Jake said trying to get back to listening attentively.

"Well I think it just got worse after that, what with us getting lost-"

"Whoa Hayley stop right there, don't worry about this, we will get out of this. We've been in worse situations…" Silence. "Off the top of my head I can't think of them right now but come on! It's us! There been nothing that we couldn't handle" Jake said confidently.

_Yet_ Hayley thought.

"True but what if this is the mission that finally gets us," Hayley voiced out.

"Well if you think about it like that it will. Come on Hayley! I know you! You're never someone who just quits and sits there doing nothing and watch the paint dry. The way you should see all that you've been talking about, is that they are situations that are changeable. It's all bout how you look at it,"

Hayley sighed. "I know but-"

Jake turned his head to look right at Hayley. "No, nope I really don't want to hear you justify your war out when you know that we can change this. Like you said with this situation we just need to think up the right plan. And as far as I see it when we get home its all about finding a way to get Holly to see how much of a fighter you are or cheerleader in a this sense. I know you can think of a way to do it Hayley."

Hayley looked back at Jake and looked him right in the eyes, he seemed so convicted and sincere in what he was saying. She really wanted to believe him.

"You really think so?"

"Yeah I do now come on now, let's get up and find a way to get home" Jake said getting up and extending his hand for her.

"Yeah okay," She was willing to give it a try.

She sneaked a glance at Jake again. Jake was something else. Cut from a different cloth if you could stretch that phrase. Self-assured was more accurate. It was as if he had some otherworldly sense that everything was going to turn out fine. She wished she possessed such a quality about her. It was just how to get to that desired outcome or destination that continued to take over her mind and cause her to in no less sense of the word _freak out. _

She trusted him though. If head an idea or plan he never steered them wrong. A lot of the times though she did think it were the result of luck. There had been a lot of close calls. It would be interesting to see what he could come up with this time.

"Okay so what should we do?" Hayley asked. She thought she saw Jake make a face and look at her strangely but she didn't dwell on it.

"Well okay, you said that you were following a trail of golden leaves?" Jake said walking over to the leaves.

"Yeah that's right, wait how did you find me again?" Hayley inquired.

"Well I saw these roses in the middle of nowhere and figured it was really weird. I don't know my instinct just told me to follow it," Jake said proudly.

Hayley rolled her eyes. "So you didn't talk with her?"

"Talk to who?" Jake asked clearly puzzled.

"Your Dryad of an ex-girlfriend."

"Who?" Jake frowned and seemed completely confused.

Hayley could help but secretly smile. "Laurel, the one who almost turned me into a tree back when we were freshmen."

Wait for it…Hayley counted in her head.

"Laurel! You talked to Laurel? When? Where? Is she here?" He asked excitedly.

Hayley grimaced. "No she isn't here anymore but I have a good feeling she was the one who sent you the roses."

"Huh? Okay wait start over." Jake said.

Hayley sighed and recounted her encounter with Laurel and the monsters as well as how she ended up following the trail of leaves. It took her several minutes.

"Okay so Laurel said that this cabin house was in the middle of this forest, does she know who lives there?" Jake asked.

"No she didn't know anything about it except that it had a strange vibe to it, you know I'm not one to venture out all because someone has an eerie vibe but it's all we have right now," Hayley explained.

Jake nodded. "Right and you know for sure that we're still in Lakewood?"

"Yes that is one thing I'm positive about."

"Okay," Jake said putting all the pieces together in his head and taking it all in. "One more thing."

"Shoot"

"Did she ask about me at all?" He asked sounding hopeful.

"Um yeah of course she looked for you and she told me to extend her greetings from her so _HI!_" Hayley greeted adding all the exaggerating she could muster and adding a wave of her hand for cheesiness.

"Oh okay…" Jake said looking slightly crestfallen. He shook it off. "Maybe one day we'll meet up again, you know to catch up and everything."

"Right, right so what should we do now?" Hayley asked.

Another strange look from Jake. "Well I think it was the right move to visit the cabin. Maybe someone there knows how to get home. At the very least we can ask for help and specific directions to get out of here and hopefully we can get some clues on our current Scooby Doo mystery. So what do you think?" Jake continued. "Do you think we should follow the trail or go back the other way and try to go home?"

"Umm, well what do you thing we should do?" Hayley asked Jake.

"I'm definitely leaning towards the idea of checking out the cabin but I wanna know what you think,"

Hayley clenched her teeth. She just wanted to go home. She found Jake or rather he found her so all she wanted now was to go home and have a nice hot shower. She could feel dirt everywhere. On her shoes, clothes to all the way under her fingernails. Her normally flawless hair was in knots and tangles.

But she didn't want to fight with Jake either. Hopefully when they got to the cabin there would be a nice elderly couple that could give them a ride home. Or maybe they would find Edward Cullen's mansion of a house. If you think about it, this was the perfect setting. The Cullen house was also hidden in the woods with him and his beautiful family who had no desire for human blood but to marry off their youngest son… Wishful thinking.

"Whatever you think is right," Hayley said out loud shaking herself out of her reverie. Jake almost never had made a wrong call before so…

"Okay… so it's decided then? Follow the trail of leaves…" Jake said slowly enunciating his words. As if it would give her the time to change her mind.

"Okay… let's get moving then…" Hayley said just as slowly.

* * *

They had been walking for about half and hour catching each other up on the monsters they had encountered when they had separated. Jake seemed to have the same amount of trouble with the monsters. She felt like her heart had jumped when he told of her of how he narrowly escaped a Mongolian Deathworm. He had to climb up a tree till it was all clear. He stayed up there for what felt like an hour to him. Hayley felt her conscience weigh her down after hearing his stories.

The Troop for its glory and rankings were in the end people. With the slightest miscalculation someone's life could follow. There were some adventures and days when it seemed so lighthearted and fun, as if it was a game to enjoy. It certainly fit the description; enjoyment, excitement, but lose even once and it was game over. Dire consequences usually meant death for the members of a Troop or its civilians. That was why Hayley believed in being extra careful and looking at every scenario. Did the events that perspire cloud her judgment this time? She wasn't sure and didn't really want to dwell on it, but the feeling was gnawing at her. The Troop was definitely fun and exciting, it was part of the appeal of joining but it wasn't a game. It was life or death.

She noticed Jake had stopped talking. He was following the trail and checking his surroundings.

"You know I didn't mean what I said either," Jake said suddenly.

"Hmm, about what?" Hayley asked intrigued.

"I didn't mean what I said when I said I didn't care what you thought," Jake explained.

"Oh don't worry about it, it's water under the- "

"No I want to make sure you understand how much I value your…" Jake paused and looked down, he looked up again continuing on the trail but made no move to look at her.

"Junior year before the winter formal, we were battling the Perodactyl monster. It took us longer than we thought to contain it. When we finally did we were already twenty minutes late for the dance. We had nothing to wear for the dance. Well you did because like always, planned ahead."

Hayley smiled. She did, even if her date was Jake. They had agreed to go as each other's date just so they wouldn't have to deal with any awkward conversations, awkward dancing from anyone else. She had no boyfriend at the time. Jake liked to call it her "in between boyfriends" stage. She didn't want to deal with any guys at the time. They had other things on their minds. The Perodactyl was wreaking havoc on the jewelry business. They seemed to like the shiny objects. They would break in a store in the middle of the day just steal some shiny bracelets and rings. The amount of people they had to snark at the time. It gave her a headache just thinking about it.

"Anyway you got mad as usual because I forgot something that you planned carefully. But we went to the mall anyway. We couldn't agree on what I should wear. I didn't really care, I just wanted something simple and casual. Jeans were fine by me. You saw it as an opportunity to dress me up. You picked out a nice suit and picked out this pale skater rock shirt that was going to go under the blazer that you said "described me". I was totally against it of course."

Yeah she remembered the fight they had in the dressing room. She remembered how mortified she was with the number of people who knocked asking if everything was okay.

"I was mostly against it because _you _were the one to put it all together and you, my date had to pick out what I was going to wear. Even if we were just going as friends. I was so mad that you had to take me to the mall just so you didn't have someone embarrassing on your arm."

"What! That's not what-"

"I know I know! I was about to quit the whole formal and just bail and go home when I heard you talking to one the sales associates about how excited you were for the formal and how excited you were in taking your_ date_." Jake explained.

Hayley tried to remember that night. She recalled going outside and picking another shirt because they just had a shouting match about the skater shirt that she wanted him to wear. Another sales associate had asked if everything was okay. She did remember telling her how excited she was in taking Jake. She said that he was the first date that she was most comfortable with and relaxed and that she was excited because of that. The lady must have mistaken it as a romantic date because she started gushing and wished Hayley the best night that night.

"I realized how much the formal meant to you and didn't want to fight about something so small. I realized how genuine and real you help is to help me. How nice you were. So I went with the outfit that you picked out."

"Little did you know that everyone came up to you that night asking who you were and what school you came from. Hardly anyone recognized you!" Hayley said proudly of her Cinderella story.

"And I had a great time that night with you and it was extra special because it was the first time I met Stella," Jake said stealing a glace at her.

Yep she remembered. And they lived happily ever after. As touching as he was trying to be with that story she couldn't help but be bothered by it.

"Anyway the moral of the story is I listen, I appreciate and I thank you for looking out for me. Although sometimes you overdo it. While I get the sentiment, to any other person it comes off as bossy but because I know you so well I know its because you have the best intentions." Jake explained quickly.

Hayley knew it was true. But in her defense she only mostly did it to Jake. So no one else was really harmed.

"And the point of the story is that your opinion matters to me, from the small to the big ones. _All of them_," Jake stressed. "Although lord knows why I let you, my life would be so much easier if-"

"Jake!"

Jake cleared his throat. "So yeah anyway there."

"Thanks Jake, that I means a lot to me," Hayley said. She didn't realize how happy she felt after hearing that. It did mean a lot. I was nice to ponder on the how they were able to sustain the friendship for so long. Would she have looked at him and ever consider him as a friend if he didn't join the Troop and vice versa. She couldn't answer that. She shuddered just thinking about that "what if" scenario. Which was why she was all the more grateful that he did join the Troop.

They fell into a comfortable silence after that. It had been a long time since that happened. With everything that Hayley had going on in senior year it had been a while since she had really spent some quality time with anyone let alone Jake. She guessed that Holly did have some truth to her reasons.

"Whoa so I guess this is it?" Jake said looking at something in the distance.

Hayley looked ahead to see a small bungalow styled cabin. It looked so picturesque to Hayley. As if it was saying it was perfectly happy to live alone in the woods. While it was small, (it was no Cullen house) the trees had also been cleared for the small truck parked outside as well as a small road that Hayley guessed also lead to civilization. _Well if all hell broke loose at least we can just follow the road_. She said grateful for a back up.

Jake made them halt walking with a sign of his hand. "I think we should go over some stuff before we knock on the door." He signaled his hand to a tree and walked over and crouched down. Hayley followed him.

"So I'm down with whatever you think we should do," Hayley piped up.

"Okay but what do you think we should do?" Jake asked.

"I don't care I'll do whatever you say," Hayley said. She really didn't want to have another argument if they disagreed in tactics. Besides she trusted Jake.

"I see the little heart to heart that we just had really sunk in," Jake said under his breath and shaking his head.

Hayley felt a little hurt by his statement. She was just trying to show him how much _she_ trusted him. Whichever way she went something would always set them off. She chose to say silent and pretend that she didn't hear him.

"Okay, I'll put the freeze ray into your bag and I think our cover should be: we got lost in the woods while we were out camping," He said putting his freeze ray in her bag. She had abandoned hers a while back in the woods because it didn't help her in any form.

Hayley nodded and looked back at him.

"You stay right here for two seconds I'm just going to do a quick check around the house to see if there is anything weird going on," Jake said and quickly sprinted out in the open.

"What no! I think-" Hayley started. It was too late he was beyond earshot. What if there was a trap or something. She watched as he crouched under the windowsill trying to get a peak inside the house. Then she watched as he disappeared behind the house. It was a few minutes till he a reappeared again. Hayley let out a breath that she didn't realize she had been holding.

"I got nothing." Jake said panting. "The curtains were drawn closed, and there was nothing weird or eerie that I got from it," Jake relayed.

"Okay," Hayley nodded.

"So…we just knock and act casual, ask for some directions, a phone, and seize any chance we get at investigating without getting caught," Jake said.

"Okay sounds good," Hayley said.

Jake shook his head, got up and started walking leaving Hayley to follow. As soon as she caught up with him Jake had finished knocking on the door. She stopped right behind him. They waited there for a few minutes. Nothing. They looked at each other thinking of what to do next. All of a sudden the door opened.

"Yes, can I help you?" There stood a man with his door half opened. If Hayley had to guess he looked to be in his early 40's or late 30's. He had a distinct mustache, small but the first thing she noticed about him. He was tall and thin with a small beer gut if she could describe it. He was wearing casual clothes. Jeans and a plaint white tee. His expression upon opening the door looked like that of annoyance.

"Hi sir, I was wondering if you could help up, we got lost. We were looking for a good place to set up camp but got lost in the process. We couldn't find the trail that we had come from and I'm afraid we've have just been getting farther and farther. As you can see from our disarray we have been lost for a day now. I can assure you sir we don't normally look like this." Jake laughed and continued. "I was wondering if you give help give us some directions." Smooth Hayley thought.

The man looked to Jake and then to Hayley. "Where are you from and how did you manage to find me?" He asked sternly.

Jake answered for them. "Lakewood sir, and we just stumbled onto your place while we were out wandering."

"Fine come in out of the cold, let me see what I can do," the man said roughly.

"Thank you sir, we appreciate this, I'm Jake by the way and this is Hayley," Jake said as soon as they entered the house.

The man did a once over on Jake and then his stare settled on Hayley. She smiled and put her hand out. He didn't take it.

"My name is Bob. Have a seat in my living room, I'm going to check if I left the stove on and then I'll be right back. Stay right there and don't move." Bob said pointing to his sitting room. And then he left. They sat down on the white couch together. The room looked bare. The walls were a light yellow. No pictures or personalized touches were added to the room. The furniture were pale colors blending in with the walls. It looked like a hotel room. There was a small TV in the corner and a small coffee table in the middle of the room.

"Well at least we know he likes things clean," Jake said checking for dust on the coffee table.

Hayley tried to let out a small chuckle but couldn't. She didn't like that there was something strange about this place.

"So what do you think?" Jake asked. "It looks like we caught him on a bad day" Jake noted.

"I don't know," Hayley said still checking her surroundings for any clues.

"So what else is new," She thought she heard him mumble. He spoke again. "Where is he? He seems to be taking a while. It's been 10 minutes." Jake said getting up and looking around.

"What are you doing? He told you not to touch anything, who knows what he does, he could be a serial killer, let's get to know him first before we start touching his stuff." Hayley whispered loudly.

"Ahh so that's what your thinking, I was starting to think you met with a monster that brainwashed you and clouded your judgment. Fine I'll sit but only for a little while longer," He said sitting back down next to Hayley. Hayley had to bite her tongue to stop herself from saying anything.

It was quiet for a few more minutes after that. Only Jake's impatient drumming on the coffee table could be heard.

"Sorry I took so long but I got you something to eat and drink," Bob said coming out with a tray of sandwiches and a pitcher of juice.

Hayley didn't realize how starving she was. "Oh thank you so much we've only been living on a chocolate bar and a packet of crackers for the past twenty four hours," Hayley said speaking up for the first time. She looked at him. He was smiling now.

"Now a pretty thing like you should never suffer," He said looking up and down at her winking and chuckling at her. It's like he did a complete 180. He was smiling and accommodating them but it still left her uncomfortable.

"Haha, well you know it's lucky we had anything at all," Jake said taking a huge bite out of his sandwich. Bob sat down on the couch next to them closer to Hayley's side on the right.

"So you guys are from Lakewood?"

"Yes sir that's right," Jake said.

"That's about a three hour drive from here I could give you a ride back there if you want," Bob said looking at Hayley.

Hayley was about to accept she couldn't believe how nice he was. Maybe she was wrong. All their problems would be over just like that.

"Uh well we were wondering if you have a phone?" Jake asked.

"No my phone hasn't been working because of a storm a few days ago, been planning on going into town tomorrow to get that fixed. A park ranger needs his phone if you know what I mean," Bob said winking at Hayley again and laughing.

Hayley forced a laugh. "So you're a park ranger then?"

"Been one for ten years, see what trouble is going on around here," Bob said proudly at her.

"You guys do good work," Jake said loudly. Hayley nodded. Bob looked between the pair. "Seen anything to be worried about?" Jake asked.

"Nothing but peace and quiet" Bob said making eye contact with Jake and then Hayley.

"Have you seen anything?" Bob said to Jake turning serious. Jake shook his head vigorously at that. "Nope just nature's peace and quiet," Mirroring Bob's previous smile.

"What about you sweetheart? Seen anything?" Bob said returning to a smile at her and winking once again.

"No nothing out of the ordinary, we are just really tired," Hayley said scooting closer to Jake putting her hand on his knee and giving it a light squeeze and giving Jake a big smile of her own. She also noticed how Bob's line of vision went briefly on that hand on his knee and then back up at the pair of them. She couldn't read his expression.

"Well then you guys should rest up then. Jake you can sleep out here on this couch and Hayley, I have a guest bedroom down the hall next to mi-," Bob said.

"Uh actually we sleep better when we're together. You know us, we are one of those sickening couples that hates it when we are away from each other," Hayley said wrapping her arms around Jake's chest. She could feel Jake tense up.

"Uh yeah sure one of those couples who love to smother each other," Jake nodded tightening his grip on her. An obvious attempt on irony on his part Hayley noted.

"Oh okay sorry, I wasn't sure if you guys were a couple. So then it's agreed I will drop you guys off tomorrow morning," Bob stood up growing serious once again.

Hayley and Jake stood up too. Hayley linked her arms around Jakes. They had finished all the sandwiches and the drinks.

"Let me show you to your room then," Bob led the way.

It was down a hallway. She noticed that there were only three rooms in the hallway. They passed a room that looked like a study room. There was another one next to it, which looked to be the master bedroom and then another one at the end of the hall, which was where he led them.

"Sorry there isn't much room, but you guys do have a bathroom in here that you can use to freshen up. There's some towels in the drawers and clean shirts that haven't been used much in the drawers. My friend comes up here once in a while but hasn't been down here for a couple of weeks, feel free to use anything in this room," Bob said.

"I'll let you guys rest for the night, I'll be down the hall, I'll see you guys in the morning. Now you rest up Miss. Hayley you look down right exhausted. I'll see you alive and cheerful tomorrow okay?" Bob asked jokingly.

Hayley put on a fake smile.

"Oh she will be! Don't worry about that!" Jake said putting his arm around her.

Bob waved a goodbye and shut the door behind him. Hayley let out a sigh of relief and sat down on the bed. She looked around the room, it was similar to the living room in that it was impersonal and bare. It had a queen size bed, a table end with a lamp, a drawer and then the bathroom.

"Sorry about that, I just had the slight suspicion he was the eerie in Laurel's description of this place," Hayley whispered.

"Yep definitely with you there, now if you will excuse me I have a day's worth of use with the bathroom, you don't mind if I take a shower first too do you?" Jake asked.

"Nope go right ahead," Hayley said taking off her bag and lying down on the bed. Hayley really was exhausted. She just didn't want to encourage Bob with more conversation.

"Thanks," Jake said.

* * *

Hayley woke up to the slamming shut of a drawer. She must have fallen asleep for a few minutes. She opened her eyes to Jake's back turned toward her. He was still wet from the shower and was only wearing his towel that was wrapped around his waist. She was still a little drowsy but could definitely still appreciate the sight. He put a shirt on turned around.

"Oh hey your awake sorry." Jake said.

"No worries, I guess it's my turn," Hayley said jumping up and running into the bathroom as fast as she could.

Half and hour later Hayley opened the bathroom door letting out a bathroom full of steam. She felt so refreshed. While she did feel tired she felt better than before she took a shower as if she built up a second wind. She had just finished brushing her hair. She just needed a shirt. She had the intention of dressing back in her old undergarments and pants, and didn't mind a clean borrowed shirt. She checked to see if Jake was still up.

"Oh sorry I thought you would be sleeping, I just needed to grab a shirt," Hayley said running to the drawers holding the knot of the towel around her chest tightly.

Jake cleared his throat. He was lying on the bed already. "Ah yeah don't worry about it, nothing I haven't seen before," Jake said jokingly.

Hayley backtracked and turned around. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"What?" Jake said clearing his throat again as he looked at her. He looked away just as fast. "Oh I just meant you know that we've seen each other in much less and all when we you know we switched bodies because of the Gelatinous Cube back in 9th grade and all,"

Hayley cringed. She did remember. It was so embarrassing for so many reasons. There was no getting around that detail though. They had to look presentable to their friends, family and school even if it was an epic fail on Jake's part. People to this day still question her fashion sense because of him. But they had an unspoken agreement to never talk about that specific detail to each other. Apparently until now. Which is also the reason she saw the many changes in his physical appearance.

"Oh right," She nodded and headed back into the bathroom to change. She left the door slightly open for the air to circulate.

"So what do you think we should do now?" Jake said lowering his voice.

"Aside from staying away from Bob, I don't know, any plans?" Hayley asked putting on the last bit of clothing.

"I don't know you tell me one for once," Jake said seriously.

"What's that supposed to mean," Hayley asked was she exited shutting the bathroom door. She stood in front of him with her hands folded across her chest.

"Nothing, never mind," Jake said dismissively.

"So I think we should wake up early in the morning to explore his house a little, I don't trust him, even if he did give us food and shelter his mood was a little to all over the place,"

"Yeah I agree, that sounds like a good plan," Hayley said.

"There's a surprise," Jake mumbled.

Hayley felt offended. She had heard that a little too much today. "What is your problem Jake? Is there something wrong,"

"Nope nothing, I'm going to sleep now," Jake said turning his back to her and pulling up his blanket.

"Ugh Fine!" Hayley said preparing to get into bed.

"Yep see right there is my problem right there!" Jake said climbing out of bed and walking around to stand right in front of her.

"Shh! Lower you voice," Hayley said.

"Why are you being like this?" Jake asked accusingly.

"Being like what?" Hayley said standing back up again staring him straight in the face.

"Passive, submissive, quiet. I thought it was just a one-time thing in the woods. We are team members Hayley! We help each other. Why are you not telling me anything? You always have something to say. You were always someone I could count for a second opinion, or a first opinion, a plan B, a plan A. But ever since I found you earlier in the woods I have always been the one leading things and getting things to happen!" Jake said pointing at her.

Hayley pushed his finger aside. "Look I knew you could do it. I've been doing this for you! I trust you Jake! You were born a leader! I don't think we could have gotten this far without you."

"Why are you doubting yourself?" Jake asked. "You and Felix and Mr. Stockley are the only people I trust with my life. I have no doubt in you, why can't you do the same for yourself," Jake said shaking her arms.

"I'm not," Hayley denied shrugging his hands away.

"Then why are you like this! Your excuses are not good enough. It's always a give and take as far as the Troop executions go! And as you know that has always given us our best results. Team work." Jake explained.

"I did this for you!" Hayley exclaimed pointing her finger back at him and poking his shoulder so that he had to step back.

"I didn't want to fight with you anymore, I thought if I agreed with what you had to say everything we go more smoothly but here you are trying to fix something that doesn't need fixing!" Hayley said pointing at him and poking him again.

"It's like whichever way I choose we always end up fighting Jake! That doesn't happen to friends Jake!" She said poking him again. She clenched her teeth. She could feel the adrenaline. After holding everything back today she finally had a chance to voice it all out.

She had backed him into the wall now. She smiled triumphantly. He didn't like what she was saying and she was getting a rush out of it. After a day of trying to make him happy she realized it was more gratifying pushing him off the pedestal that he thought she put him on.

"Well maybe we were never supposed to be friends," Jake said pushing himself off the wall and into her personal space so that she had to move backwards. Except she wouldn't let him push her around not anymore. If he couldn't be thankful of what she did today, then she wasn't going to let him intimidate her.

They stood there like that waiting for the first person to relent. The weaker of the too. Too much pride was at stake. Somewhere in the middle of their verbal battle a physical electric battle had taken place. They stood there both in each other's personal space waiting for the other one to move off.

Jake smirked, "Welcome back old Hayley oh how I've missed-"

At that moment Hayley found herself crashing her lips into his. She had to shut up his conceited statement somehow and she knew later she would blame it on the riled up emotions and adrenaline but that's how she found her lips tangled up in his.

It was just supposed to shut him up and surprise attack him so that she had the upper hand again in the argument but as she started to move her lips off he started to kiss back hard. She was totally shocked. She forgot everything after that. All she could feel was the kiss and she had no other thoughts but to kiss him back. It felt amazing. She grabbed a fistful of his shirt and pulled him closer. Was this really Jake?

She could feel them moving backwards until her back legs hit the bed. They pulled apart briefly so Jake could sit on the bed Hayley adjusted her position so that she sat on top of him straddling his waist. She didn't care about anything right now except seeking out his lips once more. As soon as she, she sighed and she put all her energy into her kiss. This included her frustrations on him yesterday, today and who knows how long. It had been building up and this was the only way to let it out. And truth be told it was so much better than fighting.

"Ahh god Hayley…" Jake mumbled just before returning for another kiss. Maybe this wasn't exactly what Jake was asking for but with the exception of today Hayley never really was one who was completely listened to what Jake asked for. Sometimes Plan B is just better than Plan A.

* * *

AN: Hope u liked it. Not sure how soon I'll update agn. Maybe a week, sooner if all goes well. Need to get that paper out of the way. Hopefully soon in between breaks I'll def. be writing. Maybe, it depends on your response on how you liked it too, it could help ;)


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I do not own the Troop, its monsters or characters. Original characters and monsters I do.

A/N: Chapter 9! I am so sorry for the late update. I just have so many things going on but I won't make you wait as long for the next chapter, my apologies again. I hope I didn't lose to many readers b/c of it. Just would like to remind everyone of the T rating and feel free to skip anything your not comfortable with. Please excuse any mistakes. This is uploaded with only a brief revision because it was one in the morning already and I didn't want to keep you guys waiting any longer. I will probably revise it later on. And with that said let me stop writing so we can actually get on with the story. Lol. Enjoy!

* * *

Chapter 9

Hayley didn't know how long she was there kissing Jake but what she did know was that she didn't care. Time seemed to slow down. She had no idea where this pent up energy had come from considering the day she just had. Jake seemed as vigorous and energetic as she, not that she was complaining, far from it.

She sighed contentedly as he left her lips and leaned down to trail kisses over her throat and collarbone. Her eyes fluttered shut involuntarily. They hadn't said a word to each other in a while. Hands were all over the place, groping and feeling. Hayley felt up his hard taut stomach, a product of being a member of the Troop for sure. She was always curious and tempted to touch them and here she was brazen and unashamed at fulfilling that wish.

Quite suddenly she was flipped over and was forced down to the bed with Jake on top of her. Her heart leapt inside her chest. As hot as that was for the moment she gave him a forceful shove after realizing what happened. She wasn't used to being "handled". In her past relationships she liked to be in control on how fast her physical relationships went. She wasn't sure why but it made her feel secure to know she controlled the _gas pedal_.

"Don't do that!" Hayley said giving him a glare. She didn't know why she felt so turned on after that. As far as she was concerned there was still a tension and frustration in the air that seemed to spill over from the previous argument. Everything was not forgiven or forgotten. Although she noticed there was a slight advantage because of that. At least there didn't seem to be any awkwardness that usually came with first kisses. There was no awkward pulling away, mixed signals, missed targets, shyness or bashfulness that she usually had in her experience. Their earlier argument was the only reason she could think of to explain why everything was so explosive with her mind and body right now.

Jake looked up from his work on her neck as if he was snapping out of a trance. He shook his head and looked at her. "You're right, I'm sorry I don't know what came over me, we shouldn't be…" He started getting off her slowly.

Without a tinge of hesitance from Hayley, she quickly hooked her legs to the back of his knees and over his legs causing him to fall on top of her for the second time that night. He had the quick reflexes to hold himself up with his arms on each side of her before he fell on her. He was hovering over her face to face again albeit this time in a horizontal position, flushed and out of breath.

"I just meant don't push me around like that" Hayley didn't mean for it to come out as a shy whisper.

"Well then I guess I've done by job," Jake smiled. Hayley knew that was a jab from their earlier argument. She noticed how he broke eye contact and looked down to her lips. She involuntarily licked her lips at the thought and realized too late how that might have looked like an open invitation. Jake looked right back at Hayley and without another thought she pulled him down by his shirt. This kiss was slow and gentle. Exploring and relaxed. Hayley noticed she liked these type of kisses as much as the fast hard bruising ones. She could feel them all the way down to her toes. She pulled him closer and she felt his arms give in and a good amount of his weight was on her.

Soft lips connected with her own slowly building in intensity. She ran her fingers in his hair and tugged lightly. She felt him growing bolder by the second and felt him putting his hand under her shirt just as she had done earlier. She chuckled silently at that but soon forgot and couldn't help but moan at his efforts. Somehow before she even realized it he had pulled away from her mouth and had started trailing kisses down her neck and onto her stomach leaving her skin tingling in its wake. She hadn't realized he had lifted her shirt up halfway already. She just got lost in the sensations.

Frustrated because now she wanted more than he was giving her she called him, "Jake please!" She coaxed with her finger.

He looked up his eyes glassy and unfocused. She tugged his shirt up again; if anyone was going to do the pushing it would be her. She pulled him down to her once again and she sighed contently. His kisses practically made her melt in his arms as they intensified.

She felt him chuckling against her neck. Curious and a little offended she pulled away, "What?" She looked back at him.

"I'm sorry but I just can't believe that I'm kissing cheerleader Hayley Steele," Jake said. Hayley laughed at that, _try Jake Collins feeling me up under my shirt _she thought silently.

"You're such a dork," Hayley mused stealing another kiss. She couldn't stop, it was as if she was addicted. When did he get so good at this? _Stella. _Aside from one or two short-term girlfriends in sophomore year Stella was his first serious girlfriend.

And just like that everything came rushing back to her, Chris, Stella, and their life back in Lakewood. It was as if someone had quite rudely and bluntly burst the hazy bubble they were in and she knew what she needed to do.

…Just a few more minutes wouldn't hurt, she knew this was wrong and not like her but they were already in over their heads Hayley analyzed. What's a few more minutes going to do that hasn't already been damaged.

She noticed his slow movements and felt him pulling away again. Worried that he had just realized and was about to voice out her earlier revelation about their situation her hands grew bolder as they touched and teased him. She found a soft spot behind his ear that left him limp and hissing out her name. His breath came out in short ragged bursts.

"Hayley…I think that we need… to… stop for…just… a …geez Hayley!" She could feel him struggling to finish his sentence. She knew this had to end soon, but as cruel as it seemed she was the one who wanted to end it, as vain as it seemed it was better for her ego if she rejected him and not the other way around. It was just a rare occurrence when it happened and she didn't want to add (of all people) Jake to that number even if there was a good reason behind it.

It was just much harder than she initially thought to stop when his tongue had found hers again and was doing what it was doing. His kiss was so different from her other boyfriends, he gave her the undivided attention her mouth craved for. Maybe it was different because they were just friends she theorized. The way he was kissing her at the moment was soft and exploring, slow and sensual. A kiss that made her feel as if she was on cloud nine. It was as if he was paying attention to all the details and noted what she liked and disliked. It was driving her crazy how good his kisses made her feel and she wanted more of it.

She kissed him harder which surprised Jake as he jerked his head back suddenly. Taking advantage of the opportunity she flipped them over on the bed so that she was straddling him.

"Wai-"

Afraid he was going to say something again she dove in and captured his mouth distracting him once again. Her earlier agenda pushed to the back of her mind once again as she felt him respond and circle his arms on both sides of her waist.

"God Jake," Hayley sighed.

"Hayley…Oh God Stella!" Jake tore his lips away from her with a deep breath.

Jake's outburst snapped Hayley out of her daze.

"Oh my god! You and me…we… I'm with…Oh God," Jake said his voice rising with each word. Hayley covered his mouth with her hand at that. She used her elbow to prop herself up.

"Okay I got it! But you need to shut up or at least lower your voice, do you want creepy Bob to come in here! Cos I sure the hell don't! I will let you go but remember indoor voice," Hayley said.

Jake pushed her hand away clearly annoyed. "Don't patronize me, and don't tell me what to do Hayley," He said in a hushed exasperated tone.

He sat up hastily leaving Hayley to follow adjusting her position to sit on her knees. She noticed how anxious Jake became. The trail of expletives that he was saying to himself clued her in on his state of mind.

"Alright, alright, look it is not as bad as it seems," Hayley said getting his attention by seizing his face to look in her direction. He gripped her hand on the side of his face and gave them a squeeze before slowly putting them onto her own lap.

"What just happened? Oh god… I just I wasn't thinking…what did we do? Stella is going to kill me," Jake said gravely. Rubbing his face with his hands as if he was trying to wake up from a dream. _A bad dream with her_ Hayley thought.

"It isn't as bad as it seems," Hayley felt like a parrot repeating it over. She couldn't think of a way to console him, frankly she was still reeling from there little make-out session. She was a little bothered at how quickly he jumped his thoughts to Stella. Did this not mean anything? She wasn't sure herself if it meant anything but at least he could be a little sensitive to her as well.

"No it's worse," Jake said quietly.

"I'm not exactly proud of it either but we just got caught up in the moment and it will never happen again," Hayley tried to explain.

"And never spoken about again," Jake said stated.

"What is you problem Jake? You're the one who jumped me! And you didn't seem to be complaining, what was I that bad? Are you ashamed of me or something," Hayley asked getting in his face. Every word that came out of Jake's mouth seemed to sting worse than the previous one.

"What? It has nothing to do with what happened, we should just forget it happened. The point is it should never have happened! Don't you get that! And FYI you were the one who jumped me!" Jake let out.

"Oh really," Hayley said through clenched teeth. She moved into his personal space and hovered his lips an inch away from his. She looked at his lips and then back up his eyes, a silent dare. He was clearly affected; she could see himself trying to restrain himself. She smirked and bit her lip, a little act to put on for the shot. "Well then I'm really… sorry that I kissed-" She could feel his hot breath, this was bad she wasn't starting to get pulled back into the haze. Their eyes locked again neither one speaking. Both had forgotten what they were talking about. Hayley needed to realize all plans that involved Jake needed to be done at least a foot away, she just gets to distracted.

And once again their lips were locked in a battle of tongues. This was bad, Hayley thought. Their relationship could get really complicated. She heard herself start to moan and abruptly pulled away with more force than necessary. "Okay that just proved the opposite of what I wanted, I'm sorry I guess I did jump you," Hayley said moving away from him quickly before she attacked him again.

Jake sighed loudly and shook his head. "No I think we met halfway, Oh this is really not good. Lets just stay away from each other till we figure this out," Jake moved to the opposite side of the bed trying to find the furthest spot away from her.

"Okay so obviously we just got caught up, I think it's just this past two days are just messing with our minds you know?" Hayley explained.

"Yeah, yeah, what with everything that was going on, getting lost, having no idea where we were, creepy Bob, this house, yeah all factors that made us gravitate towards each other, you know seek out some comfort in a vunerable situation that looks dire and uncertain, it happens to the best people out there," Jake enlightened. He was starting to smile a little now.

"Like that movie Wedding Crashers where that Will Ferrell dude takes advantage of helpless, grieving women because they're vulnerable and have a skewed perception of what is good and bad for them," Jake said a little relieved that there was a reasonable explanation for their actions.

"Yeah okay that makes sense so we just tell them it was an accident," Hayley agreed.

Jake's smile turned into a frown. "I don' think that's such a good idea,"

Hayley paused. "So you want to lie?" Hayley asked confused.

"Look me and Stella are doing so good right now. She is coolest, funniest, girl I know. We click on so many levels that I never thought I would find in anybody else. I feel so lucky to know her. This isn't some temporary high school love that you go through with your jocks…with Chris-"

"Hey I-"

"Let me finish Hayley, I really like her Hayley and I don't want to mess that up, I know you don't want to get too serious with any of your boyfriends, and that is probably why you aren't as worried as I am about the repercussions but I just want to stress that I am as serious about Stella as I am about my comic book collections," Jake said looking at her in the eye. A comparison Hayley was sure only Stella would get, which was why they were perfect for each other she guessed.

She was offended on the statement about her boyfriends. If she was being honest with herself there was a little truth in it and she hated him for knowing her so well. She cleared her throat. "Then don't you want to be honest with her? You don't want your relationship tainted with a lie do you?"

"You don't know her like I do, she already has her suspicions on why we are so close while we are in different social circles in school. I cannot exactly give her the real reason that we are Troop members who fight monsters," Jake said.

"I'd like to think we are little more than members forced to interact because of a common agenda, I thought we're friends," Hayley huffed.

"Well yeah now, but come on you know we probably wouldn't even give each other the time of day if we didn't get to know each other in the Troop, I mean what cheerleader would notice us "common folk", and I probably would be too busy making fun of your job prancing around for jocks to notice you," Jake said honestly. "But anyway that's beside the point, please can you help me keep this secret. It's not like it will happen again. I just don't want to hurt her." Jake pleaded.

"Okay I promise I won't say anything, but don't say I didn't warn you," Hayley said. She didn't think it was a good idea, but who was she to meddle between those two. More than she already had anyway she thought guiltily.

"Oh thank you, thank you Hayley! And I promise I won't say anything to Craig either," Jake said moving across the bed to give her a grateful hug.

"It's Chris remember, I haven't seen Craig in months," Hayley said sheepishly. "And thank you, I mean Chris and I are well we have fun, we're having a good time and you know him, he is very down to earth and is very protective he makes me feel safe," Hayley explained to him as well as to herself.

"Well good I'm glad you found him then," Jake said sounding genuinely happy for her.

"Yeah thanks," Hayley said still in deep thought staring at her hands.

"Alright so how about we get up in a few hours at around five in the morning so good so we can explore this little house that Bob has huh?" Jake said switching gears.

"Huh what? Oh right, let's make it four-thirty, sounds good. Goodnight then" Hayley said switching off the lights and laying on one side of the bed as far as she possible could from Jake and facing outwards from the bed so that her back was facing Jake on the other side. She was positive that Jake was also facing his back toward her as well.

"Yep goodnight," Jake said as he settled comfortably as he could on the bed as well.

It would be another half hour till the pair finally found sleep, both still had their mind racing what just transpired. It was the most restless sleep that Hayley had in a while.

* * *

Hayley woke to a slight movement at the edge of the bed. She opened her eyes to Jake getting up from the edge of the bed who had just finished tying his shoes.

Jake turned around and noticed her, "Oh good you're awake, I thought I was going to have to wake you up and you know that never goes well." He said not looking directly at her. Remembering late nights in HQ she knew that to be true.

"Come on it's five in the morning, we overslept enough already," Jake said leaning on the wall.

"Okay let me just get cleaned up," Hayley said getting off the bed. Just as she was about to close the door of the bathroom she did a double take on the room. How did she get up on the other side of the bed? She was positive she had fallen asleep on side facing the drawers. She just hoped didn't do anything stupid while she was sleeping. She had been told by her friends and exes that she was a spooner when she was sleeping.

* * *

Ten minutes later

Putting on her bag she did a once over on the room to check if she left anything. "Okay I'm all set," She said opening the bathroom door. Jake was nowhere to be found.

"Jake?" She noticed that the door was opened. She stepped out into the hallway and whispered again. "Jake!"

She tiptoed down the dark hallway heightening her senses.

"Jake? Where are you?" She heard a clamoring noise and followed the source.

It seemed to be coming from the Study room. The door was left slightly ajar. "-and you won't me to go ahead with what your plans from yesterday with those two? Do you really think that it will work? You cannot risk everything just because you believe that they-"

Just as suddenly another voice interrupted him, Hayley put her ear closer to the door, it seemed to coming from a speaker, she tried to make out what the second person was saying, "Believe me, just stick to the plan and trust me Hayley will definitely see our side"

"And what about Jake?"

"Don't worry about him, just do what I said and _take care_ of him,"

"Oh no, I'm done listening I will _take care_ of both of them as soon as we leave, they won't be getting out of these wood's alive, they've seen to many of the monsters, they will rat us out… no they are as good as dead,"

The other guy started saying something, or shouting she wasn't sure but all she could think of now was that they needed to get out of there as soon as possible.

She quietly ran past the hallway and into the living room. "Jake?" He wasn't there. Her heart was racing again.

"Jake?" She tried the kitchen. It was a small regular kitchen. Like the rest of the house it was bare with nothing but the necessities. No Jake. But then she noticed the refrigerator door light and noticed that it was open. The door was blocking her view of who could be looking inside. "Jake?" She tried again.

"Oh hey I was just grabbing a bite you want a bologna sandwich?" Jake asked naively.

"Why did you just leave me alone in the room? Don't you know we have to stick together?" Hayley tried to convey her annoyance and anger without yelling.

"I'm sorry…I was hungry…." Jake said slowly trying not to chew on the food that he already had in his mouth so it had come out a little muffled. "You want some?" He offered her the sandwich.

"No I don't want it," She pushed it away from her. "We need to get out of here right now, Bob is going to kill us!"

"What?…Calm down, it was only a bologna sandwich, here I'll just make him another one, relax," Jake said putting down his sandwich already taking out the ingredients of the sandwich.

She turned him around to make him face her. "No he is really going to kill us," She said seriously.

"And what makes you say that," Jake replied.

"I just overheard him talking to someone saying he didn't want to wait to kill us"

"And you're sure you didn't hear it wrong,"

"Positive"

"Okay we need to get out of here," Jake said scrambling to put everything back and closing the fridge door.

"The… the truck outside, we can hotwire it so we can get out of here," Hayley piped up.

"Okay do you remember how to do that from our Troop training?" Jake asked hopefully.

"Not exactly I'm hoping you do," Hayley asked knowing it was a long shot.

Jake was looking around, "Of course…I do…but why would I…" Leaving the kitchen going to the front door, "Do that if I AH Ha!… already have the keys," He fist pumped triumphantly. He had found it on a key holder attached to wall.

_Of course._ Hayley smiled and rolled her eyes. Bob sure was predictable for a guy she never predicted would want to kill them.

Hayley heard a door creak, alarmed and scared she moved to open the front door, "Oh my god, it's locked, we're locked in I can't get it to open," She panicked.

Jake's arm went past her and turned a knob on the door. Click. She turned the door handle and was relieved to find it swung open.

"Okay so I'll give you some time to gloat when we get to HQ let's get out of here I think he heard us," Hayley rushed.

And without a second thought to look back she ran out with Jake right hot on her heels. She climbed into the shotgun seat of Bob's car while Jake settled into the truck. "Move! Let's go home," Hayley said.

"Right with you there," Jake said turning on the ignition and speeding out of there as fast as he could.

* * *

5_ Hours later_

"And then I remember this one time where me and Jake dressed up as girls to get into Hayley's slumber party. You would not believe how much fun I had!" Felix recalled. He thought back to that day. It was really strange how easily he had fit in with the girls. He had no history with them he supposed. It was easy to start over.

He was in the middle of retelling another adventure of the Troop to the Gelatinous Cube outside the containment room. He liked to think that they had gotten to be good buddies. He certainly _tamed_ that cube he thought proudly. He was telling the stories of the good ole days with Jake and Hayley one last time.

He had been continuously searching for Jake and Hayley for two days. It was Sunday afternoon and he had come up with nothing. Not even a lead. He knew that time was running out. He had never even gotten to tell them how much he loved them.

"Oh Gelatinous Cube my man, if you only knew how much we all meant to each other, You'll never find better team members, it was definitely an honor to work with though" Felix could feel himself welling up.

The doors of HQ opened up abruptly to image of a grungy Jake and a ragged Hayley. Felix stared at the door too scared to blink because he was afraid it was an illusion.

"Well if you listened to me in the first place and asked for directions like I suggested we wouldn't have wasted two hours of our time driving in the wrong direction," Hayley continued with Jake.

"Well at least I got us here didn't I?"

"Guys?" Felix butted in walking toward them slowly all but consumed with joy at the sight of his best friends.

"Yeah not thanks to me finally going to a convenience store and asking the guys where we were and getting a map," Hayley noted sarcastically.

"Well thank you then queen Hayley, I don't know what I'd do wit-"

"GUYS!!! Hey!"

"What?!" Jake and Hayley asked.

"Your back!" Felix said grabbing them both in for a hug.

They both hugged him relieved to see him as well.

He took them both in, they both looked tired, beaten up, and well cranky was a given. Yet something was different about their posture with one another.

"I was so worried about you guys, I really thought you guys were gone, your watchcoms weren't working, and the Heraptacore got you guys, I mean where did you guys go after you vanished, what happened to you guys," Felix held up his hand. "Wait, just start from the beginning," Felix rushed out.

And with that Jake and Hayley filled him in on what took place in the woods. Everything except what had happened behind those closed doors or Bob's guest room.

A/n: As always pls let me know what you thought. They really do mean a lot and the feedback is really appreciated and noted for when I write my chapters. And also I've already got the next chap. underway yay. If you guys want to read a teaser, the first page of it I can send it to you in your reply option of your review (providing you have an account on ff), just my way to thank you for reading and waiting. Thanks guys ox


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I do not own The Troop. All original characters, monsters, etc. all belong to Nickolodeon and Viacom.

Author's note: So sorry for the unannounced hiatus. No excuse but life got in the way. But thank you again for reading and encouraging me to continue! I really really appreciate it :) I am determined to finish this fic. With everything that is going on, not sure when I will post the next chapt but I def will be writing and if everything goes well hopefully sometime in the next week or two. Crossing fingers. The latest Troop episodes have helped inspire me as well. Pls exuse typos and such, this is mostly hot off the press, was jus sort of excited and tired all at the same time. :)

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Chapter 10

11:00pm Sunday night.

Hayley dried her hair from the second shower in less than twenty-four hours. She sighed in heavy relief after reflecting back on the whirlwind that was the past weekend. After catching an earful from her mother about hardly ever getting to see her because of her busy "school" activities and apologizing profusely back she was finally able to return to her room. It was the only four walls that she could do what she wanted and rest in privacy; her sanctuary.

Putting down her hairbrush she walked to her bed, and laid down resting her eyes. She was ready to succumb to sleep. She didn't want to think about anything. After they had clued Felix in their little adventure in HQ they all agreed to regroup and discuss it further then next day. It was greatly obvious how tired they all were back in HQ earlier, the slightest remark would tick the other one off, especially Jake, at least for Hayley. She had a sarcastic remark for every one of his statements. She knew deep down she couldn't chalk it all up to exhaustion though.

Jake. Another part of her reasoning to take a second shower was to wash off what she could only describe "the feel of Jake" on her. Every toned muscle pressed up into her, all the limbs tangled needed to be etched out of her mind. ASAP she told herself. She shook her head trying, as if the literal act could shake it off.

And as if fate itself was up there laughing, her new watchcom started beeping.

"Ugh!" She let out in frustration. She grabbed the beeping watchcom from her nightstand. _Yep_ she thought. _They were pointing and laughing. _Hayley thought. It was Jake of course. She had turned off her cell phone when she got home not ready to deal with anybody yet. She would just deal with everyone tomorrow. Except it was the obligation as a Troop member to answer the watchcom at any and all times possible. It made sense of course. If there was an emergency about anything they needed to be reached as soon as possible. It was Troop code. She took a deep breath and tried to put on an indifferent face before answering.

"Yes Jake, What's going on?" Hayley asked.

"Why aren't you answering your phone?" Jake asked in an irritated voice.

"I- I- I'm tired," She let out, too tired to think of any excuse, and realized there really was no need to. She was tired.

"Oh well, I need to talk to you, it's kinda important, can I talk to you on the webcam for a few minutes, it'll be fast," Jake asked. Hayley gave a small smile she never noticed how he tilted his head to the side a little and raised his eyebrows whenever he asked for a favor.

"Okay, give me a few minutes," Hayley said giving in.

"Great, I'll see you there," Jake said.

Turning off her wathcom, she walked to her laptop and waited patiently as it booted. What could he possibly want to talk about that he couldn't even say it on the watchcom.

* * *

"Yes I found the truck, it was just as you said it would be in front of the school," the man said on his cell phone. He had just finished giving orders for the Heraptacore to teleport back to the woods. There was a slight ringing in his ears from the trip with the Heraptacore that made him have to strain to hear his boss's words on the phone.

"What? No it doesn't look like anyone else is here, the lights in the school are all off, no cars except our truck in the parking lot," he was getting highly irritated answering questions that seemed so obvious. If he was honest to himself it had been more than once when he lingered and doubted his boss's true motives. It had been so simple to just kill both Hayley and that Jake boy when they were under the same roof, and now that they had escaped who's to say what they saw and what they will do about it. He himself was getting antsy, all their hard work done just to be unraveled by two meddling Troop members.

"So what do you propose we do? Snark them in the morning?" He paused slightly and grimaced at the boss's answer on the phone.

He responded back to his boss, just barely missing biting his tongue in the process, "Fine I will leave them alone for now and just keep an eye on them but the minute I see something-"

His blood ran cold and he could feel his heartbeat through his chest, "No I didn't forget our deal, yes I am leaving with the truck right now," He paused again as his boss added a few more trite words. "Okay."

He hung up the phone and took out his spare keys to enter the truck. As he started his engine he couldn't help but assess the situation he was in again. The way he looked at it their situation was screwed now that those people had meddled. He really hoped his boss had a sure way plan that involved prolonging the killing of those two because he didn't see one. Bob himselfwould be screwed either way and he would be damned if he was going to let that happen. And with this last thought Bob headed back into the woods.

* * *

"So…hey…" Jake started.

Even through the computer screen Hayley could see that he was somehow avoiding eye contact. She couldn't explain it but she found herself doing the same thing.

"Um, hey back…" Hayley finished. She shook her head and cleared her throat. "So what did you want to talk about that was so important that you couldn't wait until tomorrow?"

"Oh right," Jake said looking back at her with renewed seriousness. "Well I need to ask for a big favor, with no questions asked,"

"Okay, depends… what is it?" Hayley asked curiously.

"I think we need a little, you know, um…time out" Jake said carefully.

"Time out?" She paused. "When did this turn into basketball? What exactly are you saying Jake, cos just like in twitter I'm not following you," She was confused and didn't like where it was going if she was going to be honest. She shoved her chair closer to the computer desk, straining to hear to make sure she could hear everything he was about to say clearly.

Jake rolled his eyes and started with renewed determination, "I think that we should steer clear of each other for a while,"

"Okay, and why is that?" Hayley asked.

"I just need you, I mean us to have some time apart," Jake said.

"Uh huh," Hayley replied dumbfounded. After what felt like a few seconds of silence she spoke again. "Okay fine."

"Okay fine? Just like that?" Jake cocked his head to the side.

"Yep, no questions just like you asked," Hayley stated.

"Okay good cos I really thought it was gonna be harder to convin-"

Hayley rushed out. "Nope I'm fine with that, I mean obviously you are having a hard time forgetting what happened in the woods and just need time for yourself to process it and move on," She chuckled. "I mean honestly I myself have been thinking-"

"Oh no hold up, Hayley you've got it all wrong, I could care less about that. Its just that well…" Jake started rubbing the back of his neck and looked sideways for a moment before returning to the screen to face Hayley. "Okay fine, I just got off the phone with Stella and-"

"Stella? This is about Stella?" Hayley interrupted slightly annoyed.

"Well yes, I called her to you know apologize for blowing her off this weekend-"

"But you didn't blow her off," Hayley said scowling. She was tired and on top of that irritated now. She still didn't see why this couldn't have waited till the next day. She hadn't even called Chris yet.

"Right, well she didn't know what I was doing, so to her I was blowing her off, so anyway I told her that I had an emergency that I had to take care of and before I could say the excuse that took me three hours to come up with, she asked if I was with _you_," Jake paused.

"Me?" She furrowed her brow. "What did you say?"

"Well I panicked at first, and stuttered which made me look even more guilty," Jake continued.

"Oh Jake," Hayley sighed.

"Yeah the whole time I was trying to figure out how she found out about us, because it's not like anybody else was there when we you know…" Jake stopped.

"Kissed, made-out, got all hot and heavy, I could go on," Hayley reminded. It was like he was embarrassed by her the way he talked about it.

"Right whatever, but we both agreed not to say anything…we did agree right?" Jake asked his eyes excessively wide waiting for an answer.

"Yes…" Hayley sighed again.

"Well okay and its not like we mentioned it to Felix or anything so I was naturally confused so I said _maybe_," Jake blinked a few times.

"_Maybe,_ you said maybe?" Hayley quirked an eyebrow.

"What? I didn't exactly say yes,"

"And you didn't exactly say no either, to her _maybe _sounded exactly like a _yes,_" Hayley reasoned.

"Well I know that now, because she gave me that stare that she usually gives when she knows I've done something," Jake shook his head. Hayley had a feeling he was experienced with that stare. "So as I was about to just tell her about what happened when she said she knew that I was with you because she was talking to Jenny about how I just disappeared and couldn't be reached and Jenny, you know the one that was in your squad said that she talked to Christine who talked to Jasmine who's friends with Demi who said that she talked to Felix and he said that I was with you on a study date outside in a park somewhere and doing whatever."

Jake took a deep breath and continued, "How and why I'm even a topic of conversation to those girls I don't want to know." He scoffed. "They must have been bored this weekend, as for how that rumor got I'm stumped," Jake said furrowing his brow and rubbing his chin lightly.

Hayley had an idea of how it got started. Long story short, she knew how the girls in the squad liked to gossip especially about people in their own crowd. She really couldn't resent Demi if she really talked to Felix and the girls because she was her friend and part of the squad. And quite honestly she missed the trivial gossiping they used to do about each other as friends. She actually considered it an honor they still considered her part of relevant topics they talked to about. Shallow as that sounded she missed her friends.

"Yeah that's a mystery, hmm…but Stella doesn't know about what really happened with us then?" Hayley said rubbing her eyes.

"No but she doesn't completely buy the studying part of the rumor cos she knows my study habits or lack thereof," Jake yawned. "So she hasn't completely forgiven me yet but I'm going to work extra hard for however long it takes to get her to accept my apology. Which is why I can't get be seen with you for a while. She is suspicious enough. So please? I'll owe you one I promise!" Jake pleaded.

"Alright, but what about when we need to talk about stuff with the Troop?" Hayley asked.

"We can do all that down in HQ, basically we cannot be seen in public, in school, etc. you of all people know how fast these rumors spread it could get back to Stella in a second," Jake implied.

"Is this about when I told the girls you liked watching Grey's Anatomy with me? People thought it was sweet," Hayley said.

"Wrong I endure it for you, plus they have really hot doctors on that show," He faked a cough. "Izzie" He coughed again.

"Yes they do," Hayley smiled dreamily thinking of McDreamy.

"But how many times have I told you I don't need my business all up on other people's business." Jake scolded.

"Yeah yeah, save the lecture for tomorrow," She said waving her hand off. " So basically no contact with you outside HQ fine, piece of cake. It'll be just like back in the day. Good times, good times." She smiled. Nothing she couldn't handle after her weekend.

"So is that it or do you want to continue to rant about everything under the sun," Hayley said.

"Nope, I'll just talk to you about that stuff _later_" Jake said putting at emphasis on the word later.

"Yep later, goodnight Jake" Hayley said.

"Goodnight Haley… and I just want you to know that…well this means a lot to me." Jake said in all seriousness.

"It does?" Hayley quirked.

"Yes, I can't even attempt to imagine a day without my good looks, my wit, my charm, let alone you-"

"Goodnight JAKE!" Hayley smirking. She couldn't resist his goofy side. She was getting ready to turn off her computer screen.

He cleared his throat. "But seriously thanks for doing this. You are the greatest friend I could ever ask for, I hope you know that, cos for me the likes of someone like you are hard to come by, and I would rather face that Heraptacore a thousand more times than do anything to screw our relationship up. So thanks Hayley " And with that he turned off his computer so that all that was left was her face on her side of the screen showing a look of mixed emotions.

* * *

Felix walked into school Monday morning feeling much more refreshed and relieved and alive. It was like the insurmountable weight was taken off his shoulders. Weight he had been sure he had to unload to Mr. Stockley and the Troop international. But Hayley and Jake were fine. A few bruises and scratches but nothing irreversible. Although they did seem sort of tense. Grant it they were in those woods for a long time. They may have seen things that could have traumatized or scarred them for life which was saying something in the line of work they were in. They had touched base on the general parts of the weekend but there was something else, like holes in the story that he couldn't figure out if they truly existed. Felix shook off the feeling; he didn't even want to try to imagine it. No, they were safe and at home now and he was going to make sure that they were not alone for the next mission in solving this case.

Felix turned a corner in the hallway to find Hayley talking with Chris. He tried to read their expression before deciding if he wanted to interrupt their topic of conversation.

Chris in his typical jock form was laughing off something that Hayley was saying in all her seriousness. Felix shrugged and decided to just go with it.

"Hey guys! So how is everyone this beautiful morning?" Felix asked eyeing them both enthusiastically. Chris seemed to notice it was him and felt Chris's good mood sour. Even if Felix suspected, Hayley and Jake had talked to Chris to lighten up his attitude towards the young AV club member it didn't mean he tried to have some kind of friendship with him. Felix didn't mind though, because honestly he didn't want to try either. He just wanted to keep his pretense up for his real friends.

Hayley however didn't even try to smile, she just nodded her head towards him. It looked like she wasn't able to get any sleep last night judging by her tired face. With the awkward silence spanning nearly a full minute Felix got the hint. "Hey so yeah I'll see you guys later at the you know next social meet up, hang out that we see each other… at…whenever that happens ..you know wha im sayin" He started to turn around still putting a goofy smile up. "Yeah so…" And didn't bother to finish his sentence as he started to power walk the hallway dodging people and heading to his next class. He would catch up with Hayley later he figured.

She still hadn't recovered from her weekend in the woods. The sudden rush of guilt seem to rush at him from all sides as he took his seat for his first class. If only he had been there to help them. The blazing torture that they endured, that he couldn't even try to imagine suddenly weighed down on him again. He had to talk to them and find out what else happened. He also made up his mind right then to make sure they were all caught up with their rest. If need be he would get them to skip some classes so they could rest down at HQ. They had a few beds there in the small infirmary and another (small room which Hayley had claimed for her privacy as a girl she claimed) for late night cases and missions. He would take notes for them if he needed to or …oh hell even do a homework or two for Jake to make it up to his best bro. And Hayley well she didn't need help with schoolwork he didn't think although he would ask again. And if not then something else was needed to make it up to her.

Suddenly someone dropped in on the desk in front of him. He didn't seem to notice because he was so deep in thought that he felt quite startled when a voice interrupted his thoughts. "So why fantasize about me, when the real thing is right here sweetie," Holly said. She was turned around from her desk to face him. Not used to the insinuation from girls Felix put on a bashful smile.

"Sorry, its just so many guys have used that line on me I wanted to try my hand at it," Holly winked.

Felix smiled back at her, he wanted to try saying something smart and cute like she did but he guessed he was taking to long because Holly put an end to the awkward silence.

"So what happened to you this weekend? I was waiting for you at the party." Holly asked expectantly.

"Huh? What party? Oh yeah right! Yeah sorry about that I was actually with Hayley. She needed help with some stuff." He answered vaguely.

"Hayley…right of course," Holly said.

Felix suddenly remembered something, "Hey so yeah, any chance there was something you found you could do for Hayley, any thing change or you thought of anything to let Hayley back into the squad?"

"For Hayley… hmm, nope nothing right now not since we last talked" Holly stated quickly not even thinking about it.

There had to be something, there was always a loophole if you looked hard enough. And by golly Felix was going to try and find it. An idea was starting to form in head.

"Hey so you still needed help with your studies?" Felix asked.

"Huh? Yeah actually. I do-"

"Great so I say we meet up later, here give me your number so we can set something up," Felix asked quickly. He didn't want to give her a chance to change her mind. He couldn't remember ever being so forward in asking for a girl's phone number but he had an agenda that stopped him from worrying about being shot down.

Dumbfounded at the turn of conversation and question Holly simply gave her phone number. She started to say something when the teacher walked into class and told her to turn around to start class.

Behind her Felix put his phone away and turned his head towards the teacher, his mind somewhere else deep in thought.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

Disclaimer: I do not own the Troop and the original monsters. They belong to Viacom and Nickelodeon. Other original characters and monsters I can claim to own.

AN: I'm so sorry on the one year hiatus. But I really hope there are still fans of the show who still interested in the fic and will read it. This chapter was a bit tricky to write but the new season has inspired me. You should really watch it! I really intend to finish this fic so I hope that people will still read it! Thank you! Xx

* * *

Hayley walked out of her fourth class that day. She felt dazed and half-awake ever since she had woken up that day. She didn't know exactly what that pull was that had kept her awake the whole night the night before. Physically she knew she was exhausted last night. Her body ached and she could feel her body fighting for sleep, but her mind was racing. She couldn't fall asleep because for some reason her mind wouldn't let her. She replayed everything about that weekend in her mind over and over into the wee hours and had maybe gotten two to three hours of sleep before school. She knew she was paying for it dearly today.

Had this been a regular day job maybe she would have been compelled to call in a sick day. But no, to keep appearances up in academics, the student body and most importantly right now Mr. Stockley she had to come in to school. She gave a soft sardonic laugh, because technically she was tired because she was on the job that weekend and yet because of their unconventional protocols she could not even use that excuse. Ah the lesser joys of being in the Troop.

She must have been more tired than she thought because she thought she just saw Felix talking to head cheerleader Holly when she turned the corner. She tried to make her way towards them. She didn't need another person to bully her friend.

"Okay so fine by Monday when I know the results of Friday's test I may be able to reconsider and talk to the head coach-" Holly began.

"Hey guys, what's going on?" Hayley appeared. She looked from Holly to Felix.

Felix started to panic. He didn't know how much she had heard. Hayley had many endearing qualities. One of them may or may not be her pride. If she had found out that he was doing this there were countless things on the line; his collection of vintage electromagnetic laser guns down at HQ, their friendship, his life, the list could go on. . He didn't know if it was common sense that this situation he set up with Holly was to be kept secret and if Holly realized it but as far as cheerleaders go he hoped that she was one of the smarter ones right now.

"Huh what? Going on? What makes you think that something is going on?" Felix looked every which direction.

Hayley gave up trying to establish eye contact and narrowed her eyes toward Holly. She looked unfazed.

"Nothing that concerns you Hayley, this might be hard to believe but not everything revolves around you" Holly said without blinking.

Surprised by her tone Hayley began, " I didn't mean it like that, I just meant-"

"Oh I know exactly what you meant, that I'm not good enough, smart enough to be socializing with the likes of your friend? Huh? That I shouldn't bother. Am I right?" Holly's frame was not much taller than Hayley's but the way she was staring her down she might as well have been Lamar Odom.

Felix dumbfounded started to stutter, "Actually... if…if…anything it's the other way-"

But Holly wasn't listening, she continued "You may think you have everyone figured out and can therefore fit into everyone's social circle with ease, the queen bee in the social hierarchy that everyone loves and talks about to no end_. Oh Yes! Hayley is so good in the debate club, student council, cheerleading. She's so great…_ Right?"

Inexperienced with catfights, -did this count as one? Felix began, "Holly now come on that's a little-"

"Why is it so hard for you to believe that I might be talking to Felix huh? Because you know what? He is starting to become a really good friend. A friend who is helping me out and vice versa I mean that's what friends do right? Or do I need to ask for you permission Miss Hayley Steele? Huh? Are you that selfish?" Holly linked her arms to Felix's who had to look down at their arms to make sure all this was really happening.

"You may have been the first to break the mold of social expectations in school, hanging with the likes of Felix and Jake and letting anyone who asked know that they are your best friends. And I commend you I really do. But I just don't understand why you can't let anyone else follow." And with that Holly turned around with Felix and walked off to their next class. Felix turned around with a confused look to mouth an "I'm sorry" to Hayley before turning the corner.

_What_ just happened? Hayley silently asked herself. She felt a soft touch on her shoulder.

"Hey are you okay?" asked a soft voice.

Hayley found herself looking up to a girl with long blonde wavy locks that was braided to the side flipping over her shoulder that complemented her delicate face.. She was wearing her typical skinny black jeans, converse shoes paired with a fitted flannel shirt today. She always looked good, even in the simplest of what the fashion world had to offer. It was Stella of course. Hayley shook her head trying to shake off what happened. "Yeah I'm fine thanks." She started walking to her next class. Stella's class must have been the same way since she followed by her side.

"So why?"

"Why what?" Hayley asked.

"Why did you let her talk to you like that?" Stella asked gently.

"I dunno, I mean I guess she has the right to have her opinion," Hayley shrugged.

"Yes, and so do you especially if its about yourself. You have to fight for yourself. Obviously she misunderstood your concern for your friend for possessiveness and being territorial. Why didn't you set her right? I know you; anyone would be lucky to be considered your friend. I know I am," She said smiling.

Hayley smiled too. They were good friends. She pushed the guilt she was feeling into a corner in her mind. Yes, they were friends. They had gotten close after Stella had started going out with Jake. She didn't want to like her at first. She didn't know why. But Stella was the type of person who was hard to dislike. Whenever she hung out with the boys outside of the Troop Stella would be there too. She wasn't sure if she liked the change. It only took a day to change her mind. Not only was she easy to talk too, there were countless things they could talk about from movies, to their twilight obsession, Glee, boys, to _the _boys, as well as things she didn't know about such as comics, and video games, anime, which was okay because Stella had Felix and Jake for that. If she didn't know better it was like Stella was like a better version of herself. Except maybe not as ambitious. She wasn't interested in all the clubs, and student council. She said her dream was to work in animation and go to college for the Arts for that.

"Thanks Stella, I don't know what happened I think she just caught me off guard," Hayley explained.

"Are you sure that's it?"

"Yeah, I mean what else would it be," Hayley laughed nervously.

"Well I've known you for a couple of years now, and I know of your affinity to be liked by _everyone_. You would rather avoid confrontation then deal with the blows that may come with it. Sometimes you agree to views you don't believe in just to avoid the prospect of losing a friendship or relationship. Or if someone has a beef with you, you will do everything in your power to win them over"

"But I didn't agree with her," Hayley started.

"But you didn't correct her either. You let her say those things to you, to mock you. Why didn't you speak up for yourself? She may be the head captain of the cheerleading team but she isn't the head of the "social hierarchy" of this school. And regardless she had no right to speak to you like that."

There may be one thing she disliked about Stella… How observant and perceptive she was. Stella knew things about herself that she didn't even know. Even if she was just being a good friend this time she was worried it may get her in trouble in the future. She was right about Holly. No one had a right to speak to her like that. She knew if anyone talked to her friends like that they would get treated to the infamous Steele fist. Infamous in the monster world at least.

"Your right, I need to have another talk with Holly, she has to know I am not like that," Hayley said with determination.

"Yep and don't back down if she says otherwise. If she doesn't apologize well, consider the friendship done and over with," Stella said seriously. Hayley nodded. "Well this is my class," She stopped walking as did Hayley.

"Hey I appreciate this, thanks for talking this over with me," Hayley said.

Stella leaned in and gave Hayley a hug. "No worries, I appreciate what you were doing with Jake this weekend as well. Typical Jake not letting me know you guys had a study date. Thanks for helping him stay focused. He really relies on you huh? At first I was a bit suspicious and thought it was weird which I told Jake and wanted to talk to you about too. Can you blame me, he tries to avoid his studies every chance he gets. And I was a bit jealous if I'm being honest. But I mean I can see now even more than before that you would do anything for your friends, that's just who you are. I am so lucky to be part of that circle. Anyway I'll talk to you later. Maybe we can hang with the boys later or something. Bye Hayley!"

"Yea bye!" Hayley said smiling. The guilt still pushed far into the corner of her mind.

* * *

Hayley walked into the cafeteria for lunch, the smell of fried food hitting her as soon as she walked in. She packed her lunch, it was better to be safe than sorry. She scanned the cafeteria hall quickly. She knew that sitting at Chris's table was not an option anymore. The table with the cheerleaders' was out as well. She may have been friends with other people in the clubs and tables around the cafeteria but she really wasn't in the mood to be the Hayley that everyone was used to being around. Demi was at the cheerleader's table, Felix didn't seem to be around, and Jake was at the table with his friends and Stella. His back was towards her but she always recognized his short curly hair and lean frame. Years of spending too much time together she supposed. Stella saw her and gestured for her to come over. Jake who was talking to his friend didn't see this but she remembered her promise from last night.

Hayley made the split decision to follow her instinct right then and there and made her legs move.

"Hey guys," she smiled while taking a seat next to Stella. She caught Jake's eye briefly and looked back at her lunch. She could see him tense up when he saw her, his jaw hard as a rock.

"I'm sorry to hear about you and Chris, I didn't know when I saw you earlier" Stella said.

"Ah old news already, its fine. _I'm _ fine. Really." Hayley said assuringly. She wasn't surprised that it traveled that fast. Working at the Troop, trivial school gossip rarely made her raise an eyebrow.

Jake flinched and made a choking sound. "You, wait you guys broke up?" He said in a higher octave than she was used to hearing from him. "Hold up, You girls talked earlier?" In a much higher octave if that was possible.

Resting her chin on Hayley's shoulder Stella continued, "Yeah and I had no idea! I'm so sorry, god and your day had gotten from bad to worse when I saw you in the hallway huh? Now I understand why you didn't fight back, I didn't mean to rip you a new one after that."

"It's fine. You didn't know…So do you guys know what's up with the smell in Chemistry lab on the second floor. Had a funky smell when I walked past it after second period" Hayley said skirting the subject. She didn't want to go into details with Jake right there. She knew he would press her on it and she didn't want to have that talk with him right now.

And the conversation flowed from there with Jake's friends offering up their theories and with her joining in now and then to keep it on the topic. Jake was unusually quiet. Whether he was keeping up his end of the agreement or thinking of something else was an enigma she would rather not solve. Stella didn't comment on the quick change of subject and joined in with rapt attention. Hayley breathed a quick sigh of relief.

The bell rang for the next set of classes. Hayley waved her goodbyes and went to throw her trash away. She felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Hey,"

"Oh hey, I've got to get to my next class, it's all the way in the furthest corner of the school of course," Hayley tried to chuckle.

"Yeah of course, I just wanted to let you know that I always felt that that Chris guy was never good enough for you, and that you shouldn't even bother with guys like him. You know the kind. Bronze but no brain. Don't feel like you have to settle, I know there is someone out there, I know it… and when you do find him you can double date with Jake and I" Stella finished.

She was determined not to look at Jake after this but eyed him still at the table she just left trying to get a stain of ketchup out of his shirt.

"Yes definitely and thanks, yeah guys in general aren't really high on my priority list right now anyway. We'll talk later 'k?" And she left before Stella could respond.

* * *

"And so you got these leads just by going to Riveridge to collect residue." Mr. Stockley asked with a raised eyebrow.

"More or less," Jake confessed his head turned down.

"Now while I'm disappointed that you didn't wait for me during the meeting the other day… who can argue with these results," turning his frown upside down. "Just don't let the Troop International hear me say that, let's all just agree I gave you a firm but stern warning for the next time. I mean-um, uh Felix yes thank you, thank you for the hug you can let go now," Mr. Stockley said prying Felix out of his arms and straightening his suit checking if there was any wrinkles. "As I was saying we are a team here and I know I'm the oldest but as far as experience I trust each and everyone here and everyones judgment." Mr. Stockley finished eyeing everyone, except they seemed to avoiding his now, even Felix. He failed to notice this of course because of his enthusiasm on the progress of their case.

Putting the file down on his desk he said, "Okay and now that I have read the report that Felix wrote is there anything that he might have left out that you two might want to add on the case so far?"

"Nope"

"Nah he got about everything in there"

They said simultaneously.

"Okay let's break this down. In short in the span of an hour you were able to find out that aside from all the increase in monster activity, there is a loose Heraptacore out there let alone that they exist and all they said about it is true. The monsters seem to be more than the average monster in intelligence and strength. There is a a person Bob was it with a cabin out there in the middle of the woods that claims to be a park ranger but you all heard had some sinister plans about our Troop and our members. But you all are not sure because as you ran out of the house because he saw you guys, the Heraptacore grabbed all of you and teleported you back to the school" Mr. Stockley relayed.

"Literally scooped us all in his arms and teleported us right in front of the school as if he read our minds and then left," Felix said making the gesture of holding a baby to show Mr. Stockley how the monster teleported them.

Hayley and Jake nodded with him.

"I see…"

"Crazy huh?"

"That's an understatement if there ever was one, but I suggest everyone lay-low for a little while, that Bob guy may still be lurking out there planning something. If the monster activity starts picking up I will let you all know but in the meantime put your energy and focus on something else. I will call a meeting by the end of the week after I follow a few hunches and see if we can consult with some outside help and we will go from there. Good work team. And just remember whatever you do don't' attract attention to yourselves. Got it?" Mr. Stockley raised an eyebrow while holding on to the lapel of his suit again.

"Yes sir," They all agreed.

"Right now if you all would excuse me I have a got a few student recommendations that unfortunately won't write themselves." Sighing Mr. Stockley rose from his desk and disappeared into the elevator leading to the janitor's closet in the school.

"Whew close one huh, I can't believe we got away with that! Masters of deception we are!" Felix fist pumped.

Haley noticed an awkward pause where Felix and Jake made eye contact. _ Oh no here we go…_

"The Light of the Dark Rebels! Issue 14!" They both said simultaneously, as well as enthusiastically.

"Yeah yeah yeah! The one where they had to go to the forest to dress up as the merry band of rebels who were supposed to fight for the poor but went rogue and so the Dark Rebels had to pretend to be these rebels to infiltrate them and help the poor and so the story of this issue went as …" Jake tried to wait for it, or for Felix rather.

"Masters of Deception!" They both said in unison again, much to the Hayley's dismay.

Felix started, "Yeah, I loved that issue! Did you see the twist coming where the rebel wasn't really a rebel so he was a rebel of the rebels? I did not see that coming. Whew! And then of course they…"

Hayley tuned them out after that. She decided to go do some light research on what could cause these mutant monsters. Because really that's what they were, a deviation from their nature. She grabbed some sources from their vast collection of books dating back to the 1400's and went into the back room that she had turned into her own little niche that was if anything an extension of her room back at home. The boys had something similar, and while it was bigger they had to share that room, plus there was an odor, a fact that she didn't even try to keep from them.

She lay on her bed and drifted in and out of sleep as she tried to focus on the pages in front of her. Eventually she let her exhaustion win out.

* * *

She later opened her eyes to the sound of banging outside the room. With reflexes she thought a ninja would be proud of she quickly ran out and found the Heraptacore fighting with a banged up Jake. How did he get in here? Did he somehow follow their scent? Was he smart enough to figure it out? There was too little known and researched about the Heraptacore to know for sure. The possibilities could be endless. Felix was nowhere in sight. She felt her heart pound inside of her chest. Jake was still to caught up in the fight to notice her.

"Jake!" Hayley shouted from across the room. She ran to the weapon room to grab a freeze ray only to find it in disarray, the freeze rays and all the collection of weapons destroyed and in pieces.

She heard a loud crash outside with what sounded like glass and a table or shelves breaking. She ran out into the main room of HQ to find the Heraptacore gone. Jake was on the floor unconscious with a pool of blood forming by his chest where a big shard of glass had pierced right through.

She realized later that she could faintly hear her own voice yelling his name just over the sobs as she knelt down beside him, but still all sound seemed like a distance away. His eyes were eerily open yet she was met with no response. She could see the blood seeping through his clothes. She wanted to get help but didn't want to leave his side. She had no idea if her hysterical crying had ceased. Was she rocking back and forth with his head on her lap? She wasn't sure. It was if her mind and body were mourning in different ways. She had never felt this numb before. She heard someone calling her name. Their voice getting a little louder with every second.

"Hayley!"

"Hayley! Hayley! Come on its me! Hayley!"

"Felix?" She responded. She opened her eyes to the sensation of someone shaking her lightly.

"Yes Hayley its Felix, Come on really Hayley stop messing around you know who it really is,"

She opened her eyes again. She was on her bed somehow her books scattered on the bed and floor. She tried to shake away the haze of sleep. She rubbed her face only to feel it wet.

"Hey are you okay now?"

"Yeah um thanks, I'm fine now," She said looking into his eyes to see if he was really looking at her this time. She shook him off and sat back a little on her bed to give them a little space. The dream seemed so real.

"What happened? I came in to see if you needed a ride home and saw you squirming and sobbing in your sleep. Do you maybe want to talk about it?" Jake asked sincerely.

She shook her head and wiped her face again to make sure it was dry. "No, thanks I'm fine, really," She needed to shake it off, and having Jake sitting right there did not help her any. "You can go, I'm fine I think I'm just gonna um…stay here the night, catch up on some work" She said turning to look at him.

"You sure?"

"Yeah I have stuff here and I'll just say the routine excuse with my mom, it's… it's fine really so go," She shrugged and turned her head to the door.

She could feel Jake's eyes on her for more than a few short seconds. Then he stood up and turned to leave. His hand already on the doorknob when he turned around again to face her, "Favor,"

"What?" Hayley blinked.

"I'm gonna go ahead and collect on that favor," Jake said smugly walking back and crossing his arms.

"What favor?" Hayley could feel the frustration already building.

"The _one _favor you owe me from six months ago when you called me to help you babysit for Mrs. Moyer's five kids because you underestimated your capabilities as a babysitter and you said you owe me one ," Jake said sitting back on the bed.

"Jake! I seem to remember giving you half the pay on that one job, all you did was play video games with the older ones, and I didn't underestimate myself, that was my first time babysitting her kids and she reluctantly left out how many kids she had and forgot to tell me they were all under the age of nine!" Hayley exclaimed.

"Hey if Kate Gosselin could do it then-" Jake started.

"And besides, you owe me a million other favors in all the years I've known you! So maybe its time _I_ collect! Hm?" Hayley countered.

"Well yeah but, I…You you can't collect when I collect it's…you have to wait 24 hours to collect another favor, sorry that's just how it is I don't make the rules ask anyone," Jake rushed out.

Hayley rolled her eyes, "Fine whatever so what do you want?" She knew as soon as the question left her mouth.

Jake made sure he had her eye contact first, "Tell me,"

Hayley took a deep breath, "It was about you,"

"Wow…while I'm flattered you were dreaming about me, that was not quite the reaction I was looking for," Jake said shaking his head, trying to get a smile out of Hayley.

"You died." Hayley didn't want to remember it yet alone relive it. It was always a possibility with the line of work they did and she knew that. But to imagine what it was like and who it was, it was so much more emotional than she ever thought it would be like. You work, go to school, and hunt monsters with you your teammates. That part is in the handbook. But it was just so much more than those words were on paper. So _much _ more. And Troop members had come and gone, in the years that she had become one but the Troop members she was working with now and Mr. Stockley were like family. And after that dream and her reaction to it, was there possibly something more with Jake? She didn't know.

"Oh," Jake said. It was silent for a minute. Each lost in their own thoughts. "Come here," Jake said. She felt him move closer to wrap his arms around her. She didn't hug him back. She felt him rubbing her back to soothe her.

"Well um you have to admit it would be much easier if I was gone," He said trying to lighten the mood. "No fights, No arguing over who's gonna be leader for the next mission, no one stealing your lunch food, no one playing pranks on you when _someone's_ bored. No one annoying you. No one calling you the day before a test to come over to help him study, again no fights, No-"

"-one to _share _my lunch with, no one to help pull a prank on Felix to help quote unquote _someone_ else unwind, no one to bounce ideas off of when we are on a mission, no one to go to the mall with to give his blunt _honest _opinion, no one to call when she wants to talk, no one she can just be herself with, No," She paused. "Fun…" Hayley said pulling out of the hug to face him. They sat there just staring, beyond being awkward, just staring. She could feel herself moving towards him and caught herself. She turned her head and looked the other way and cleared her throat. She remembered her promise from last night. She looked back at him.

"Anyway, now that you know and _collected_ on that favor which is now null and void you can-" The rest of the sentence was lost on her as she saw Jake swoop in suddenly to capture her lips. Hayley was shocked and surprised at first but could feel herself responding. It was different from their last kiss. It was soft and sweet. More intimate if that was possible and it made Hayley's head spin. Again with Jake everything seemed more heightened to sensations. She knew her emotions were getting caught up in the kiss, with every touch and feeling from Jake it excited her triple fold more than anyone had ever done before. She knew she had to get closer and moved to sit on his lap. She could feel the kiss building up and hands starting to roam. The last thing she remembered thinking before getting lost in all sensation was that she couldn't remember being this happy in a long time. No cheerleading awards, no recognition awards from Troop International, no straight A report cards, no win from a rival school in their debate class, could ever compare to kissing Jake Collins.

* * *

AN: Hope to get the next one out soon! I really hope you liked it. It will def not be as long for the next chap. I really want to finish the fic. I heart Jake and Hayley! Keep watching the new season! I really hope its not the last one but if it is I'm so happy with the Jake and Hayley action. So inspired by them to write. It's soooo good, I love the new characters but I still miss Felix. Thank you for reading! R& R would be much appreciated. Xx


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